2000
April 12, 2000 - Ed Sullivan Theater - New York City, NY, USA (Late Show with David Letterman)
setlist: Grievance
Appearing on David Letterman's birthday, he holds up the lovely Binaural vinyl and Pearl Jam let loose with a new song, called "Grievance". It is NOT, as everyone would have suspected, "Nothing As It Seems", which is slated as the first single, but a real rocker. Eddie's playing guitar on this one, a raw performance with Matt driving it and Mike is extremely animated. Mike makes an effort at smashing the guitar and Eddie presents it to David at the end of the performance. Anyone who had concerns that the new album would be "soft" will likely rethink after this performance!
May 10, 2000 - Mount Baker Theatre - Bellingham, WA, USA
attendance: 1 509 (sold out)
opening act: C Average
soundcheck: Insignificance, Light Years, Untitled, MFC, In Hiding, Red Mosquito, Evacuation, Even Flow
setlist: Of the Girl, Grievance, Breakerfall, Nothing As It Seems, Gods' Dice, Light Years, Thin Air, Do The Evolution, Black, Red Mosquito, Daughter/(Hold On), Faithfull, Dead Man (Eddie & Jeff), MFC, Evacuation, Immortality
encore 1: Corduroy, Wishlist, Insignificance, Improv, Go
encore 2: Soon Forget (Eddie solo), Yellow Ledbetter
After "Light Years", Eddie says "Thank you Mount Baker", and "What a fine dump. It's the nicest practice space I've ever had". At the end of "Thin Air", he notes, "Well, those were all the good songs". Following "Black", there is a mid-stage conference. Stone says, "We're already fucking up the setlist", and Eddie responds that that's OK but fucking up the songs is not. The tag in "Daughter" is a Tom Waits song, called "Hold On" "Faithfull" has two notable lyric changes: "the woman upstairs" and "what's a human to do". Jeff comes out with the standup bass and a bow and he and Eddie do a beautiful version of "Dead Man". "Evacuation" is introduced as, "This song was written by Matt Cameron"; it seems to take a toll on Eddie's voice, as afterwards he's out of breath and comments, "Great song, bitch to sing", and asks the crowd to thank Matt for playing tonight. Before the encore, there were no "Eddie" chants... rather "Pearl Jam" chants! After "Insignificance", there's another mid-stage pow wow and Eddie comments on how he hasn't had a drink for a while (since 1:30 that morning) and he's getting a buzz from the wine. Jeff is having bass trouble after Eddie announces "Go" and they go into a fairly involved improv, similar in feel to "Roadhouse Blues" by The Doors; it falls apart after Mike takes an appropriate solo but then cracks up at the end. Eddie returns to the stage alone for the final encore, holding a wireless ukulele behind his back. He tell us he is going to play one of the greatest songs in rock and roll history, and then revises (realizing some folks might not have gotten the sarcasm) and says, no, actually, it sucks. He asks the crowd to be quiet... "I know you're gonna wanna yell out during this one"... as he doesn't want to "make a mistake", and then pauses to ask the crowd if the ukulele doesn't make him look taller. He plays a lovely, intricate song... "Soon Forget" (which VERY much reminds us of "Blue, Red And Grey" by The Who). "Yellow Ledbetter" is a wonderful version. The flying V is back for Mike, as well as a brand new baby blue SG.
May 11, 2000 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC, Canada
opening act: C Average
setlist: Long Road, Last Exit, Hail Hail, Breakerfall, Grievance, Nothing As It Seems, Light Years, Corduroy, Even Flow, Elderly Woman..., Thin Air, Of The Girl, Insignificance, Not For You, Off He Goes, Wishlist, Evacuation
encore 1: Animal, Do The Evolution, Daughter/(The Wrong Child)/(Androgynous Mind), Last Kiss
encore 2: Soon Forget
After "Hail, Hail", Eddie mentions "We have a new record... it came out yesterday", prompting shouts of "Tuesday" from the crowd. "Oh, it doesn't come out till Tuesday. Let's just play it then". Before "Even Flow", Eddie says "Let's test out this spring loaded floor". He changes the "Not For You" lyric to "small my table, fits just one". Eddie throws a bottle of water into the crowd and then gives a teasing "take a bottle drink it down, pass it around". Mike rotates between a heavily worn tobacco sunburst Fender Strat, a 57 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, a Flying V with glow-in-the-dark stickers all over it, a silver-sparkle Gretsch Les Paul-style guitar, a white Fender Tele, and red hollowbody (another Gretsch?). Eddie plays one of the new Fender Telecoustics (same as for "Grievance" on Letterman) for the most part, switching to a white telecaster on a couple tunes... and, of course, the ukulele ("it's pronounced ookelele" - Eddie) which he faked a guitar smash on before leaving the stage. All members of R.E.M. were in attendance since they were recording in Vancouver, hence "The Wrong Child" tag on "Daughter". About 50 fans waiting around outside were let in, for free, approximately 1/4 of the way into the show.
May 16, 2000 - Binaural
tracklist: Breakerfall, Gods' Dice, Evacuation, Light Years, Nothing As It Seems (*), Thin Air, Insignificance, Of The Girl (*), Grievance, Rival (*), Sleight Of Hand (*), Soon Forget (*), Parting Ways
Pearl Jam release their sixth studio album, Binaural, through Epic Records. Produced by Pearl Jam & Tchad Blake. Mixed by Brendan O'Brien & Tchad Blake (*).
May 23, 2000 - Estadio do Restelo - Lisbon, Portugal
opening act: The Vandals
setlist: Of The Girl, Do The Evolution, Animal, Red Mosquito, Corduroy, Grievance, Light Years, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Even Flow, Faithfull, Untitled, Last Kiss, MFC, Breakerfall, Wishlist, Thin Air, Daughter, Evacuation, Immortality, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Black, Go
encore 1: Last Exit, Jeremy, Elderly Woman..., Alive
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter
This concert was originally planned for Pavilhao Atlantico. The opening show of the European tour in Lisbon is a total winner with Pearl Jam playing really well, looking very happy with the fantastic Portuguese fans in attendance. "Corduroy" is one of the best ever versions. "Untitled" (from the Live On Two Legs album) is a different, extended version, after which Matt begins having drum trouble and Eddie starts doing "Last Kiss" by himself. There is no recognizable "Daughter" tag... just Eddie singing and the entire crowd is singing even when he has ended. Later, Eddie forgets the words to to "Immortality" and the audience helps out. "Better Man" includes a very small "Save It For Later" tag. Mike is on fire toward the close of the first set, soloing behind his head, rolling around and falling backward while playing! They return for the encore and the crowd is yelling "EDDIE" and he responds "SUCKS!" which brings that to an end, and the crowd is then singing the chorus to "Alive". Eddie says that they won't have to sing that one since the crowd has already performed it. Dennis Rodman makes an appearance at the top of the second encore, bringing Eddie out onto the stage over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He exits soon, with Eddie commenting on how that was the shortest amount of time that Dennis Rodman has been on a Pearl Jam stage! Another fantastic show in Lisbon with Mike in a great mood, playing hide and seek behind a speaker and Eddie opening his shirt and patting his heart, obviously very moved by the crowd.
May 25, 2000 - Palau Sant Jordi - Barcelona, Spain
attendance: 10 000
opening act: The Vandals
soundcheck: Timeless Melody, There She Goes Again, Corduroy, Insignificance (x3), Light Years, Thin Air
setlist: Long Road, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Animal, Even Flow, Nothing As It Seems, Light Years, Given To Fly, Insignificance, Daughter/(The Wrong Child), Rearviewmirror, I Got Id, Thin Air, Black, Better Man, Do The Evolution, Alive
encore 1: Grievance, State Of Love And Trust, Wishlist, Elderly Woman..., Go
encore 2: Last Kiss, Yellow Ledbetter
The band are cheery and in good spirits. Jeff's hair is now a bright orange. Mike is wearing a vintage Queen t-shirt complete with rhinestones. In "Hail Hail" Eddie sings, "Are we going to the same place... Barcelona?". "Even Flow" is introduced as, "This next song is called 'I save cigarette butts for a poor girl'". "Given To Fly" is impassioned; a sweaty t-shirt is flung from the crowd and lands right on Eddie's mic stand. He picks it up, smells it, and comments "smells great". Mike sings along to himself during "Insignificance". "Rearviewmirror" is an unexpected surprise and a big crowd favorite. The jam is different, not meandering, but more staccato with a definite melody. Mike runs around behind Matt and comes up behind Stone in all of two seconds, scaring him. At the end, Mike runs back and the guitar goes crashing to the ground; he looks awfully pleased with himself. Eddie tells a charming story about going sightseeing and taking photos during the day at one of the Antonio Gaudi buildings: "If he had been a musician he would have been the first Jimi Hendrix"... and that while he was doing that these kids got in his photo, some comments about young love, and then he somehow ties it all into "Thin Air", carefully pointing out it was written by Stone. There are different lighting effects, punctuated by two large inflated balloons in the shape of planets on which the nebulae and other backdrops are projected to interesting effect. A fine show, but nothing to write home about.
May 26, 2000 - Velódromo de Anoeta - San Sebastian, Spain
attendance: 9 000
opening act: The Vandals
setlist: Release, Given To Fly, Do The Evolution, Corduroy, Insignificance, Of The Girl, Jeremy, Light Years, Nothing As It Seems, Even Flow, Faithfull, Daughter/(Hold On)/(Love Me Two Times), Breakerfall, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, Go
encore 1: Last Exit, Hail Hail, Immortality, State Of Love And Trust, Alive
encore 2: Whipping, Last Kiss, Improv, Smile, Yellow Ledbetter
Another fantastic crowd helps the band deliver another fantastic performance. "Jeremy" surprises everyone with its intensity, Mike hopping up and down, exhorting the crowd to jump, Eddie with vintage 1992 headshakes and gestures, Stone also jumping up and down to match Eddie's intensity. Eddie breaks a string during "Light Years"; Mike's "Nothing As It Seems" solo is intense, polished. "Even Flow" features more classic hand gestures on the "butterflies" lines. Stone fucks up the beginning of "Daughter"... of all things... TWICE... prompting Eddie to introduce him formally: "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Stone Gossard!". The band returns for the first encore: "What a day, what a place. I have to admit, we went surfing earlier... as soon as we got in the water, this tornado came... from Seattle, it was lookin' for us". Eddie thanks the crowd for singing, and then introduces the band (of all things), specifically Stone: "This is Stone Gossard, his guitar fucked up earlier, not him; he's a professional, he came to San Sebastian to rock you in a very professional way..." and then the professional rips into a scorching version of "Last Exit". "Hail, Hail" has a lyric change: "Hail hail the lucky ones, I hope you are in love". Eddie forgets the words to the beginning of "Immortality" again and looks to the crowd for cues. The crowd starts singing "State Of Love And Trust" before the band kicks in; "Alive" features yet another band fuckup, prompting Eddie to say: "So much for being a professional band...". They return for the second encore with the crowd chanting, and Eddie singing along with Matt providing an accompaniment. Eddie then says, "Well, since we fucked up so badly tonight, we'll just keep playing to make up for it, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?" and then asks the crowd to vote: "Last Kiss" or "Whipping". "Whipping" wins hands down, but we get "Last Kiss" anyway. After Stone and Jeff switch instruments for what's obviously going to be "Smile", Stone has bass problems, prompting Eddie to comment sarcastically, "Maybe it is Stone's fault..." and they go into another short bluesy jam like they did in Bellingham.
May 29, 2000 - Wembley Arena - London, England
attendance: Approx. 12 000 (sold out)
opening act: The Monkeywrench
soundcheck: Of The Girl (x2), Timeless Melody (x3), Gods' Dice, I Got Id, Not For You, Leaving Here, Soldier Of Love, Habit
setlist: Of The Girl, Breakerfall, Grievance, Gods' Dice, Light Years, Corduroy, Animal, Given To Fly, Even Flow, Nothing As It Seems, Daughter/(The Wrong Child)/(Androgynous Mind), Faithfull, MFC, Wishlist, Do The Evolution, Black, Alive
encore 1: Timeless Melody, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror, Better Man, I Got Id, Go
encore 2: Soon Forget, Soldier Of Love, Yellow Ledbetter
Eddie's voice cracks at the end of "Gods' Dice". He states afterwards, "It's a new song and I fucked it up". Before "Corduroy" Eddie almost forgets to pick up his guitar. "Even Flow" is introduced as "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Your Grievance". During "MFC" Mike goes crazy running and jumping around and throws his guitar over his back at the end. During the last chorus of "Alive", Eddie jumps down and is held up in front of the crowd. Before the beginning of the first encore Eddie describes how he used to think of London as a different planet when he was younger. It was like a place where the gods hung out like Zeus, Athena, etc. and Keith, Pete, etc. of The Who. During "Rearviewmirror" Mike goes crazy with his guitar again. Eddie describes him as "Mike McCready and his flying V. He usually doesn't behave this way", he adds. Eddie plays "I Got Id" as requested by a fan the previous night at the Borderline (where the opening act The Monkeywrench was playing). After "Go", Eddie walks off trying to balance a wine bottle on his head. Eddie begins the the second encore saying they're willing to play some more if the crowd's up for it. Eddie tells the crowd that Matt referred to the instrument he plays on "Soon Forget" as a "Grungle-lele". Eddie flubs up the last "one more time around". The concert finishes off with a splendid performance of "Yellow Ledbetter".
May 30, 2000 - Wembley Arena - London, England
attendance: Approx. 12 000 (sold out)
opening act: The Monkeywrench
pre-set: Last Kiss (Eddie solo)
setlist: Sometimes, Grievance, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Animal, Dissident, Nothing As it Seems, In Hiding, Even Flow, Thin Air, Habit, Untitled, MFC, Off He Goes, Daughter/(On A Rope), Not For You, State Of Love And Trust, Immortality, Rearviewmirror
encore: Light Years, Do The Evolution, Last Exit, Elderly Woman..., Black, Alive
Eddie performs "Last Kiss" solo before The Monkeywrench's set, wearing the same striped jacket he wore at the Hollywood Palladium and the La Paloma shows, commenting something to the effect that Keith Moon loaned him the jacket. Jeff comes out wearing a white Dick Tracey hat. After "Nothing As It Seems" Eddie mentions that they played at Wembley last night but tonight was going to be something completely different. Stone exaggerates the end of "In Hiding" much to the amusement of Eddie. Eddie dedicates "Even Flow" to Tom Price, the guitarist of The Monkeywrench. Before "Thin Air", Eddie states that anyone is lucky to have fallen in love and states that the next song is written by Stone about young love. The band adds a very powerful guitar driven ending to "Habit" and Matt does a GREAT drum solo. Eddie flubs up the first line to "Untitled" which segues into "MFC". Eddie almost introduces "Off He Goes" as being from the same album as "MFC" and then corrects himself. Mike takes off his shirt before "Daughter" much to the joy of a few female fans. "On A Rope", the tag in "Daughter", is a Rocket From The Crypt song. Eddie and Mike practically knock each other over during "Not For You". Matt adds an amazing drum solo at the end of "Immortality". "Rearviewmirror" is an absolutely magnificent finish to the set. Eddie comes out during the encore and says he has a scar to remember. "Mike hit me with his guitar, the fuckin' prick". Eddie mentions that backstage Mike reminded him of a scar that Eddie gave him in San Francisco eight years ago. Eddie jokes that he's on the offensive. During "Do The Evolution", Eddie pretends to attack Mike with the microphone stand. During "Alive" towards the end, Mike runs all over the stage and Eddie swings the microphone around.
June 1, 2000 - The Point Theatre - Dublin, Ireland
opening act: The Vandals
soundcheck: Garden, Once, Brain Of J.
setlist: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Grievance, Corduroy, Given To Fly, Animal, Nothing As It Seems, Faithfull, Even Flow, Off He Goes, Elderly Woman..., Insignificance, Daughter/(W.M.A.), Rearviewmirror, Alive, Go
encore: Do The Evolution, Lukin, Wishlist, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Garden, Black
Eddie is in a chatty mood, proposing a toast to Dublin, mentioning that the crowd had waited two albums for them to come to The Point Theatre again. He adds, "That's what we did... How 'bout you? What did you do? You all grew up. You all became a bunch of thieves. You broke out of prison just so you could come here (a note about a local news story about early release of political prisoners under the terms of the Good Friday agreement). Now you have a taste of freedom... here's to your new found freedom". Eddie dedicates a wonderful version of "Off He Goes" to the fair people of Donegal, noting "all six of 'em are right over there". After "Alive", Eddie blesses the crowd with liquid from his wine bottle and Stone comments, "I think tonight was one of those nights where we probably shouldn't have played that song". Before "Go", Eddie tells the crowd a lengthy story (full of Irish wit and wisdom) about a farmer, his son and his horses, which is a big crowd pleaser. At the beginning of the encore Eddie tells the crowd, "If you're not goin' we're not goin'". After "Do The Evolution", Eddie mentions that The Monkeywrench opened up for them in London and some of the members of that band used to be in Mudhoney and that the next song was written about one of their members, leading to "Lukin". After "Better Man", Eddie says that if the crowd's up for it they'll play a song they haven't played in a long time (and that the band would remember the fact that they tried it out in Dublin), leading to "Garden"... definitely a treat. He asks the front row for help with the second verse. "Black" is introduced as a tragic little song. At the end of "Black", Eddie covers himself with black tape, climbs up on the speaker at the right hand side of the stage and jumps into the crowd, where he is treated with superhero respect. A fantastic finish to a great concert.
June 3, 2000 - Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre - Glasgow, Scotland
opening act: The Vandals
soundcheck: Improv, Insignificance, Timeless Melody, Leatherman (x2), Present Tense, Rival (x2), Evacuation, Soon Forget
setlist: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Animal, Dissident, Grievance, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Even Flow, Daughter, Untitled, MFC, Habit, Better Man, Present Tense, State Of Love And Trust, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Brain Of J., Do The Evolution, Light Years, Elderly Woman..., Last Kiss, Once
encore 2: Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter
Eddie: "We've been here once before but that was a long time ago and it's great to be back". The band start with "Sometimes" before launching into a blistering "Breakerfall". Eddie raises one of the Bugs t-shirts after "Animal", and wipes his sweaty brow with it. The crowd are perhaps the most 'lively' yet but too many people are crowd surfing and too many in the crowd surge right and left and are hurting people, which prompts Eddie to say after the first chorus of "Given To Fly", "How ya doin'?" which prompts everyone to cheer. He responds, "I didn't mean for you to yell, but I think that somebody's underneath you all". "Habit" is introduced as a quiet little number, "Present Tense" and "Once" make a very welcome appearance and turn a very good show into a great one. Eddie is in fine story telling form, with references to a little old lady he met, how songs have messages and sometimes become prayers, and talking about Mike Scott (from the Scottish band The Waterboys), which gets a great reception from the crowd. The band play two encores, with the reception on the second occasion prompting Eddie to say "Be careful, that's enough to give a guy a big head". Mike makes a rare appearance at the mic at the close of the show and in his very best Scottish brogue says, "Bye Scotland". For the encores, Eddie comes back out and tells us all a great story about the last time they were in Glasgow when he met a cleaner called Mrs. Mop who he dedicates "Soon Forget" to. Worth note is that he says, "The last time we were here, which was a long time ago..." and is interrupted by a lot of playful booing (it was February 23, 1992 so Glasgow was mildly pissed off about that) and he answers by hanging his head in shame then telling how he had a lot of laundry to do and how much of a mess his house was!
June 4, 2000 - Manchester Evening News Arena - Manchester, England
opening act: The Vandals
soundcheck: Light Years, Timeless Melody (x2), Fuckin' Up, Spin The Black Circle, Blood, Gods' Dice, Breakerfall
setlist: Of The Girl, Breakerfall, Grievance, Corduroy, Light Years, Go, Given To Fly, Evacuation, Even Flow, Daughter, Animal, Wishlist, Nothingman, Better Man, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Last Exit, Once, Black, Timeless Melody, State of Love And Trust, Fuckin' Up
encore 2: Leatherman, Footsteps, Do The Evolution, Garden, Yellow Ledbetter
Everyone is on tonight. Eddie flubs the lyrics to the second verse of "Even Flow". Prior to "Given to Fly", Eddie says they are going to play it "under protest". "Thin Air" is on the setlist but as Stone gets ready to play it, he breaks a string, and we get "Wishlist" instead, after which Eddie refers to Stone as his "archnemesis". Later, when they come out for the first encore, Eddie asks for lights and then he and Stone hug, after which someone throws a half full beer at Stone, prompting Eddie to say "if anyone fucks with him I'll kick your fuckin' ass!". When they came out for the second encore, Eddie said something to the fact that they would only be playing rarities and said about "Leatherman" that they had trouble learning it because they "couldn't even find it". "Footsteps" featured the bluesy solo on harmonica, Eddie sings the entire second half with his eyes intently closed. During "Garden" Eddie drops the second "I don't show/I don't share" lines, and holds the last "stone" for what seems to be forever. Apparently only "Fuckin' Up" and "Yellow Ledbetter" are on the encore setlist; the rest of the songs were audience requests, chosen on the spot by the band!
June 6, 2000 - Cardiff International Arena - Cardiff, Wales
opening act: The Vandals
soundcheck: Sleight Of Hand (x3), Pilate (x3), Rival (x2), Leatherman, Timeless Melody, Thin Air
setlist: Nothing As It Seems, Breakerfall, Gods' Dice, Animal, Red Mosquito, Insignificance, Corduroy, I Got Id, Alive, Given To Fly, Better Man, Leatherman, Light Years, Pilate, Daughter/(W.M.A.), Do The Evolution, Once
encore 1: Go, MFC, Elderly Woman..., Black, Immortality, Spin The Black Circle
encore 2: Even Flow, Smile, Yellow Ledbetter
The UK run comes to an end, with perhaps the best show of this part of the tour. "Nothing As It Seems" opens, followed by "Breakerfall" and "Gods' Dice"... both of which are quickly becoming live staples. A quiet crowd suddenly becomes alive from "Animal" onwards. Eddie senses this, telling the crowd "You're singing as good as me". Stone wryly notes that he can't believe they got through "Pilate" without a hitch. "Once" provides a fitting close to the show, before the encores, Eddie crashing the microphone stand to the stage floor. "Spin the Black circle" ensures the momentum is kept up during the second half, with the inclusion of "Smile" ("a going away song") and Yellow Ledbetter at the show's end providing a fitting finish. A very good show in a comparatively small venue.
June 8, 2000 - Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy - Paris, France
opening act: The Vandals
soundcheck: Of The Girl, I Got You, Rival (x2), Sleight Of Hand, Breakerfall, Pilate (x2)
setlist: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Gods' Dice, Animal, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Evacuation, Alive, Pilate, Better Man, Insignificance, Daughter/(Hold On), In Hiding, Wishlist, Grievance, Even Flow, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Hail Hail, Go, Once, Light Years, Elderly Woman..., Black, Fuckin' Up
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter
This show was originally organized at Le Zénith. A dull crowd, lots of chanting and singing along and enthusiasm, but a rough, packed pit. The puny Bercy security drag crowdsurfers over people's heads as big Pete tries to tell them how to lift people over instead. It seems like Eddie's voice is hurting. He keeps motioning to his throat and asking the crowd to help him sing the chorus of "In Hiding" (after singing "seeing visions and cracks along the walls, they were upside down" Eddie mimes smoking a joint and says, "I was tripping!"). Before "Pilate", a fan on the barricade gives Eddie a harmonica and he plays a second of "Footsteps" on it and says, "I just got a musical instrument as a gift either from the people of France or that guy right there. Is this something that you all pitched in for? Either way I'm very moved. Thank you very much". Eddie had given his harmonica to a fan in Cardiff right after playing "Smile". After a particularly hardcore "Rearviewmirror", Mike grabs his guitar (an orange-red Strat) by the fretboard with both hands and smashes it to bits gleefully. He even jumps up and down on it. He throws the strap and whammy bar out to the crowd and hands a chunk of the body to someone on the barricade. Returning for the encore, Eddie steps on a skateboard and makes a round on stage. "Merci beaucoup! A toast", he says and throws some wine over his head. "Let's play some more". Before "Once", Eddie thanks the opening act The Vandals and then starts to say, "the other people I really want to thank... what's that?" Some people are screaming something to Eddie that he couldn't seem to understand. He replies with "Fuck you!" and the crowd cheers! He continues, "Everyone in this whole first three rows getting their heads knocked to shit all night and they have been so fucking tough. Everyone give them a big applause. SURVIVORS!". After "Black", Eddie introduces each member of Pearl Jam in French ("Monseur Mike McCready", etc.) to loud cheers and then says, "And I'm Madame Bovary". He intro's "Fuckin' Up" with, "This is a good one to raise your arms and middle fingers and feel like you're number one". For the finale, Eddie and Mike stay on stage, the others left and returned to do "Yellow Ledbetter".
June 9, 2000 - Nürburgring - Nürburg, Germany (Rock am Ring Festival)
attendance: 75 000
setlist: Sometimes, Corduroy, Breakerfall, MFC, Grievance, Animal, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Even Flow, Not For You, Wishlist, Better Man, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror, Timeless Melody, Alive, Daughter/(W.M.A.)/(Behind Blue Eyes), Do The Evolution, Once
encore 1: Elderly Woman..., Go, State Of Love And Trust, Light Years, Black, Last Kiss, Fuckin' Up
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter
The crowd is rough at the start but more peaceful and relaxed after "MFC". Mike seems to loosen up during the "Even Flow" solo. Eddie takes Mike's cigarette from his mouth and takes a drag, later saying, "That's Mike McCready". Eddie grabs for the e-bow but then throw it to the back during "Wishlist". Eddie introduces "Timeless Melody" with "This one is dedicated to Noel (Gallagher), who couldn't be here...", likely referring to the fact that Liam played without Noel before Pearl Jam's set. Mike plays most of the "Alive" solo behind his head, then running off the stage while Eddie does some sort of gymnastics centerstage. Eddie introduces "Last Kiss" as "This is a campfire sing-a-long". He tries some German: "Wie fühlt... Ihr Euch?" (How do you feel?) "Ihr seid spitze" (You're great) and "Danke" (Thank you) at the end. Big cheers every time. He told of his "German lesson", and asked how to say "Fuck you" in German, being told "Hmm, well, we say, errr, fuck you". Big cheers leading to "Fuckin' Up". When the return for the encore, Eddie says, "Ha, we're easy... sometimes". There was heat lightning (that was insane) behind the crowd, and a half moon... both of which Eddie exhorted the crowd to turn around and take a look at. The band, while on fire still, was much more reserved than at any of the previous shows.
June 11, 2000 - Frankenstadion - Nuremberg, Germany (Rock im Park Festival)
attendance: 40 000
setlist: MFC, Habit, Corduroy, Breakerfall, Gods' Dice, Animal, Nothing As It Seems, Dissident, Even Flow, Given To Fly, Wishlist, Alive, Off He Goes, Leatherman, Better Man, Once, Lukin, Insignificance, Improv, Rearviewmirror
encore: Black, Spin The Black Circle, Do The Evolution, Light Years, Elderly Woman..., Leaving Here, Yellow Ledbetter
Prior to Pearl Jam taking the stage, Oasis' Liam Gallagher dedicates "Wonderwall" to "my Pearl Jam friends", most likely referring to hostile Pearl Jam fans in the front row. "MFC" is a surprise opener, the first rocking opener of the tour, and is followed by "Habit", which again features no "Speakin as..." line. During "Nothing As It Seems", Eddie comments "It's beautiful", referring to his view of the crowd. Eddie flubs the "Even Flow" lyrics, but it doesn't matter, the whole band is totally into it, Jeff bouncing all over the stage like 1992, and Mike's solo is absolutely AMAZING and extended once again. At the end of "Wishlist", Eddie steps to the mic to add a tag, but instead just plays the chords with his eyes closed, totally into it, and then says "danke". After "Alive" Eddie tells how he remembers "playing it perfectly at a small club in Hamburg on Jeff Ament's birthday, March 12, 1992... Also the last time I took a shower!". He then goes on to ask for the rain or the moon before starting "Off He Goes". Matt Cameron absolutely rules "Leatherman", with Stone singing along again. Afterwards, Eddie says, "Played that one tonight cause it was written by a German. Uh, about a German... by a Dutchman. This one's about a young Republican", leading into "Better Man", which has Eddie doing several Pete Townshend windmills. Mike does the behind the head solo during "Once", and Eddie is completely barking the words to "Lukin". Eddie points out that the moon has broken through the clouds prior to "Insignificance", and then on the "full moon is their skin" line, he stares directly at it, and the song just rocks, a PERFECT version. The improv prior to "Rearviewmirror" is a beautiful slow song, with lyrics about kissing a girl on the moon. After an on fire "Rearviewmirror", Mike fakes throwing his flying V out into the crowd. The "Black" solo is shortened but still beautiful, and "Spin The Black Circle" is a nice surprise. For the second night in a row, Eddie alters the "Do The Evolution" lyrics to "I am the first man to shit my pants!". "Light Years" is just beautiful, definitely one of the best versions ever. "Leaving Here" makes it first appearance of the tour after several soundchecks, introducing it by saying "this song is dedicated to all those German women soccer players". No one in the band knows who is supposed to solo first, but they just laugh it off, and the rest of the song is right on the money. "Yellow Ledbetter" closes again, Eddie changing the lyrics to "I'd like to stay" and "I'm so glad you stayed". A very intense and focused performance, much more than some fans expected from a festival, with a very happy and peaceful crowd.
June 12, 2000 - Megaland - Landgraaf, Netherlands (Pinkpop Festival)
attendance: 66 300 (sold out)
setlist: Corduroy, Breakerfall, Animal, Hail Hail, Rival, Jeremy, Nothing As It Seems, MFC, Habit, Light Years, Lukin, Even Flow, Brain Of J., Insignificance, Better Man, Rearviewmirror, Once, Fuckin' Up
encore: Black, Leaving Here
Eddie is wearing another Tivoli shirt, like the home-made one in 1992. The band is in a very good mood and Eddie is dancing a lot. Eddie says, "Is it okay if I speak English, because the only thing I know in Dutch is how to order pot in a café. It is nice to be back and thanks for having us. It is much more beautiful then I remember it (Eddie smiles). It is also nice to be out of America for the last couples of weeks... in America what we do for fun, because we have some kind of advanced culture... (the crowd boos, Eddie smiles) so we have some very futuristic ways of handling our overpopulation problem and that is we give each other guns and kill one another... because it is fucking fun! (Eddie makes a shoot sound). Anyway, here are a couple of songs about killing one another. This is called "Rival". Eddie dedicates "Light Years" to Diane Muus from Sony Music. (She died in 1997 at an age of 33 and knew the band very well). "So that was about a friend who is fucking up and there is nothing you can do about it! And you just watch 'em go down down down. And then, other times you have got friends that don't fuck up at all and are great people. And then you just lose them for some reason. They are of the planet and you never had a chance to say goodbye. I only mention this because there was a person we used to know here and that was Diane and ah, we never got a chance to say goodbye. This is goodbye!". Before "Fucking Up", he is telling the crowd that Gomez will play in the tent next to center stage and that Moby is coming later. He says, "I've been told that there is another Ed (Ed Kowalczyk from Live) walking around here, but I've been told that I give better Ed than he does" (smiling). He smashes two tambourines with his head during "Fuckin' Up" and tosses one to the crowd, and takes photos of the crowd at the end of the song. Later he's smiling and says, "Ha, we're easy... sometimes" likely referring to the fact that they do an encore for a festival. He asks, "Hey, Brett. Are you there? Can you hear me? Do you have the tape from last night?" Brett responds through the PA and says the tape is probably on the bus. Eddie rants about the tape as he needs it because they want to leave right after the show. "Well, if he had the tape I would tell you to pass me over there, so I could get the tape and back again to the stage... I think I can trust you guys to do that. But oh well... as you don't have the tape maybe next time. Oh, there is no next time! Oh, well. This song is called 'Black'. Say hello to all my friends in Utrecht". The last 35 minutes of this show was Dutch FM radio broadcast ("MFC" through "Black") and featured an interview with Mike.
June 14, 2000 - Paegas Arena - Prague, Czech Republic
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
soundcheck: Pilate, Present Tense, Immortality, Sleight Of Hand
setlist: Of The Girl, Grievance, Corduroy, Given To Fly, Animal, Red Mosquito, Pilate, Alive, Present Tense, Habit, Untitled, MFC, I Got Id, Wishlist, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror, Even Flow, Go
encore: Sleight Of Hand, Light Years, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Timeless Melody, Do The Evolution, State Of Love And Trust, Once, Black, Yellow Ledbetter
An incredibly hot arena but the band is amazing and energetic. Mike is "on" and active with the crowd in front of him. Eddie tell of how he watched a film from the last time they were in Prague and how piercingly cold it was, and how tough the Czech people are for enduring the cold last time. This time, Eddie says it is "hotter than the devil's asshole in here", and comments how tough everyone is for sticking with them and then raises a bottle of wine and toasts everyone. Mike pretends to put his fingers into his ears while Stone is playing. During "Once" Eddie is all over the stage, standing on speakers and really being very enthusiastic with the crowd. "Yellow Ledbetter" is played with all the lights on and everyone singing in harmony, everyone a pool of sweat at this point. As the band leaves the stage, Eddie takes polaroids of the audience and is laughing and really seemed happy. Eddie says this was the best show of the new tour to date. Live concert debut of "Sleight Of Hand" at this show.
June 15, 2000 - Spodek - Katowice, Poland
attendance: 8 000 (sold out)
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
soundcheck: Porch, Parting Ways, Rockin' In The Free World
setlist: Long Road, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Animal, Brain Of J., Nothing As It Seems, Given to Fly, Gods' Dice, Present Tense, MFC, Not for You, Better Man, Grievance, Thin Air, Even Flow, Nothingman, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore: Do The Evolution, Go, Rival, Footsteps, Wishlist, Elderly Woman..., Last Kiss, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World
After the two first songs, Eddie asks if everything is OK with the crowd in front since lots of people were jumping and lots are falling down. A bit later he notes it has been four years since they'd played in Poland and that they'd made a couple more records since then, "...so we're gonna play some of that stuff for you as well", leading to "Nothing As It Seems". The crowd has fun during "Not For You", with almost everyone shouting the "this is not for you!" chorus. Before "Even Flow" was a short intro/improv including the lyrics, "We're the world, the wicked world. We all are marching to hell...". During "Do The Evolution", Eddie takes out a monkey mask, puts it on and then puts on his mic stand. Then he stares at the mask singing. He passes the mask to Mike and Mike puts it on and continues to play. Before "Elderly Woman...", Eddie says, "We met a girl called Magda, and later another Magda, and then a few other Magdas... so I guess this song is for Magda and all the Magdas". Eddie has a small mirror and is playing at catching lightbeams in it. "Rockin' In The Free World" is a big finish, with Eddie catching a Polish flag and singing with it on his mic stand while playing the tambourine. He walks from right to left in front of the crowd, pours wine over the crowd, kneels on the stacks and gives the tambourine to a fan. At the very end, Mike simply smashes his black guitar with fury. He uses the neck of his guitar like a hockey stick and smashes Eddie's wine bottle. Eddie says, "Thank you... see you tomorrow". He takes some photos with his Polaroid and departs, taking the Polish flag.
June 16, 2000 - Petőfi Csarnok - Budapest, Hungary (Canceled)
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
This concert was canceled on May 29, 2000 due to problems with permits and paperwork.
June 16, 2000 - Spodek - Katowice, Poland
attendance: 3 000
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
setlist: Release, Of The Girl, Sleight Of Hand, Thin Air, Insignificance, Grievance, Corduroy, Animal, Hail Hail, State Of Love And Trust, Evacuation, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2)/(On A Rope), Jeremy, I Got Id, Light Years, Leatherman, In Hiding, Off He Goes, Dissident, MFC, Habit, Alive
encore: Smile, Immortality, Black, Leaving Here, Soldier Of Love, Last Exit, Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter/(Dance The Night Away)
Previously scheduled for Petőfi Csarnok in Budapest, Hungary. Those who showed a ticket stub from the previous night's show could buy a ticket to the second show at half price! The whole band is in a great mood, smiling throughout the show. A special atmosphere is created from the very beginning of the show, making it feel like they are playing right in your living room. Eddie fucks up the lyrics and starts directly with "Oh dear dad, can you see me now...", making "Release" a very short song but still very intense. "Of The Girl" and then two more slow songs follow, introduced with, "We're just gonna take it nice and easy tonight... Feels like we have plenty of time to do whatever we want...". After each song the band gathers in the middle of the stage and discusses what they will play next. Eddie keeps the other band members from changing their instruments a few times. Mike seems to be very tired and introverted during the first few songs, but still interacts very much with the crowd in front of him. Eddie catches a bouquet with a note. He reads it and says, "Oh, they're from a guy... I'll meet you at the show". He rips the petals off the flowers during "Sleight Of Hand" while the stage is bathed in blue light. The crowd is hypnotized witnessing something special happening on stage as it seemed like they would go on with slow songs forever but then they changed hitting with five unbelievable rocking tracks in a row! Eddie dons a gas mask during "Daughter" (hey, it was only a matter of time). "Daughter" is breathtaking with Mike playing some short riffs from "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" throughout the whole song. When Eddie starts singing the verse, everyone joins in with Eddie encouraging them by pointing at his ear several times. He sings, "The shades go down..." through a gas mask that was thrown on stage by a fan. Eddie omits out the first chorus of "Jeremy" like the "new" version played on previous tours. He introduces "Light Years" with, "This song is about... well, you know what it is about. It means a lot to me and I hope that it means a lot to you as well". After the song he adds, "The next song is also about a dead guy", and then they start "Leatherman". Before "Off He Goes" Eddie says, "That's a little song about friendship. About a friend that is an asshole". Then he points his finger at himself saying quietly that he is an asshole. The audience responds: "Noooooo!". Eddie catches a t-shirt during "Alive" and blindfolds his eyes with it throughout half the song. Mike catches a rose and attaches it to his guitar. The audience yells "Smile, smile" between the songs, and they play it as the encore opener. "Black" and "Immortality" are just magical, first with Eddie burning the cork of his wine bottle and painting his face and arms with it and then the whole band lining up in front of Matt during the end of "Immortality", letting everyone see what a great time they are having and how much they still enjoy playing music together. After "Soldier Of Love", the audience does the "cha-cha-cha" thing from the single and it makes Eddie laugh. Eddie manages to convince every fan to be silent during "Soon Forget", although they start quietly singing along with Eddie. Mike tags some of Van Halen's "Dance The Night Away" in "Yellow Ledbetter". Eddie takes the usual polaroids of the first row and takes one picture of himself which he throws off the stage right in the hand of some lucky fan. The setlist was modified as they played this amazing show.
June 18, 2000 - Residenzplatz - Salzburg, Austria
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
soundcheck: Leaving Here, Walking The Cow (Eddie solo), Not For You, Trouble (Eddie solo)
pre-set: Throw Your Arms Around Me (Eddie solo)
setlist: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Grievance, Corduroy, Animal, Gods' Dice, State Of Love And Trust, Nothing As It Seems, Alive, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2)/(W.M.A.), Once, Lukin, Not For You, Light Years, Leatherman, Improv, Present Tense, Rearviewmirror, Go
encore: Do The Evolution, Insignificance, Even Flow, Wishlist, Better Man, Elderly Woman..., Thin Air, Black, Rockin' In The Free World
Eddie performs "Throw Your Arms Around Me" solo before The Dismemberment Plan's set. This beautiful venue is in the middle of the city square and the band clearly loves it. People were watching the show from upper windows and roofs of houses in the area. During the first part of the show, Eddie waves to them and makes jokes about them... he also noted that he could see "some older folks" too in the windows and gives them a special wave and greeting. During "Daughter", Eddie animates the crowd to sing along to the "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2" improvisation: "So... don't be shy. Sing with me!". The "W.M.A." tag lyric is changed to "white male Austrian". Someone throws something on stage for Mike and he places it on his amp. Eddie asks the crowd if they can see the moon (it is a full moon tonight!) because the band cannot see it as it is behind the stage. The improv before "Present Tense" is very cool (lyrics: "I left home 3 years ago... when I came back I was all alone...") and is just Eddie and Mike. "Present Tense" is also started by Eddie and Mike, then the band join in. Eddie drinks from a red wine bottle and sprays some of it into the first rows after "Go". Eddie is wearing the monkey mask again during the first song of the encores. Before "Even Flow", Eddie comments about the political situation in Austria, saying that many people had suggested that it would be better for them not to play there and that they weren't even going to mention it as the message is in their songs, but to not play in Austria would be unfair to those who didn't support the government and he proceeds to give a "double fuck you" pointing both middle fingers out! "Thin Air" is introduced as, "I guess this one is particularly nice under the warm evening sky". Eddie smashes the tambourine on his head during "Rockin' In The Free World" and smashes the mic stand onto the stage at the end of the song. He returns at the end, taking photos and thanks everyone for coming. A great outdoor performance!
June 19, 2000 - Hala Tivoli - Ljubljana, Slovenia
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
soundcheck: Wash, Evacuation, Porch, Soldier Of Love, Leaving Here
setlist: Corduroy, Breakerfall, Hail Hail, Animal, Brain Of J., Faithfull, Light Years, Untitled, MFC, Habit, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Spin The Black Circle, Red Mosquito, Black, Insignificance, Grievance, I Got Id, Wishlist, Do The Evolution, Alive
encore 1: Last Kiss, Better Man, Sleight Of Hand, Daughter, Rearviewmirror, Porch
encore 2: Soon Forget, Indifference
The event actually starts a few hours before the concert, with Pearl Jam and crew members playing table tennis right outside Tivoli Arena. The crowd is cheering, clearly amused by Eddie's entertaining play. At show time, the crowd is great, clearly hungry for Pearl Jam who are in Slovenia for the first time. Some crowd surfing, one fight, three girls falling unconscious due to lack of air, but overall none of this drew Pearl Jam's attention who are focused on the music. Before "Nothing As It Seems", Eddie announced, "... here is a sad song for you... I guess it's just right after that loss", referring to Slovenia's 1-0 loss to Spain the night before. At the second encore, Eddie appears along with something covered by a white cloth, teasing "anyone know what this is? No one?" He uncovers a tambourine and continues, "A friend of ours just graduated from college and it's a big thing for her... it's a big thing for anybody... so here is our graduation present for her". He asks the crowd for silence, starts "Soon Forget", stops, motions with his finger to his mouth, and continues again, messing up the lyrics in the second verse but the audience loves it. "Porch" and "Indifference" make their 2000 tour debut!
June 20, 2000 - Arena di Verona - Verona, Italy
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
setlist: Long Road, Grievance, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Animal, Nothing As It Seems, Pilate, Given To Fly, Even Flow, ('O Sole Mio), MFC, Habit, Wishlist, Daughter/(Beautiful Way), State Of Love And Trust, Once, Lukin, Immortality, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Improv, Black, Breakerfall, Do The Evolution, Elderly Woman..., Better Man, I Got You, Alive, Last Kiss, Porch/(Paranoid)
encore 2: Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter
There is a wide gulf between the audience and the stage, which seems to make Eddie uncomfortable. During "Hail, Hail" he steps in front of the monitors to sing, and then falls backward as he walks back. Eddie does not talk to the crowd until after "Nothing As It Seems": "The last time that we played in Italy, I can't remember if it was Rome, Milan... we've had two records in between, we've got some stuff to catch up on", and that his plan was, since there was so much space between them and the audience, they would play some extra songs to make up for that space. During "Even Flow", Eddie and Jeff do a jump in unison! "'O Sole Mio" is not a full version, just Eddie fooling around and even singing at the end, "three pounds in a kilo". This leads to "MFC", which is introduced as "This is a song written in Italy, with Italians". Stage lights are blinding Eddie during "Habit" causing him to eject "FUCK IT!" and then the band goes into a speeded-up version of the ending. "Wishlist" is the lighter song and it is just beautiful. "Daughter" features Beck's "Beautiful Way" ("The searchlight's on the skyline; around the bend..."). At the end of "Once", Mike runs to the side of the stage and plays it to a fan sitting in a wheelchair. In the middle of "Insignificance", all of the lights go off, and at the same time, the band stops playing for three or four seconds, and then restart at precisely the same time. When they return for the encore, Eddie makes a comment about being thrown to the lions, and the band vamps into the improv, a spontaneous little ditty about "being in the coliseum", based on Tom Waits' "In The Colosseum". Eddie has the monkey mask again at the start of "Do The Evolution". Mike solos behind his head during "Alive". "Porch" features the Black Sabbath "Paranoid" riff. Prior to "Soon Forget", Eddie says that he's sure a lot has happened in the coliseum in the past, and he's sure blood was involved, but he didn't think that anyone had ever played a ukulele in the coliseum before; he's not even sure that he could play the ukulele, but that he'd try. During Mike's very extended solo at the end of "Yellow Ledbetter", Stone throws a guitar pick at him to let him know it was time to leave! At the very end of the show, Eddie walks to one end of the stage and then the other end of the stage to say goodbye; while he is doing this (it took a while), Mike is behind his amplifiers, playing hide and seek - he'd jump up and down, peeking out from behind the amps.
June 22, 2000 - FilaForum - Assago (Milan), Italy
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
setlist: Of The Girl, Corduroy, Grievance, Gods' Dice, Animal, Given To Fly, Rival, Elderly Woman..., Even Flow, Not For You, Thin Air, Light Years, MFC, Present Tense, Daughter, Jeremy, Go
encore 1: Nothingman, Sleight Of Hand, Better Man, Wishlist, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror, Do The Evolution, Garden, State Of Love And Trust, Black
encore 2: Smile, Rockin' In The Free World
Excellent show - the band is on - Stone is more animated tonight. Not quite on fire, but definitely on. INCREDIBLE audience. Eddie is sporting the striped jacket at the start of the show again. At one point, a soccer ball reaches the stage and Eddie plays a bit, with Jeff being the goalkeeper and blocking the ball with his bass. Much singing, much hand-clapping in the middle of songs, many lighters held up, and much yelling "hey, hey, hey" and such. In fact, the audience takes the "Daughter" tag away from Eddie. Just as he is getting ready to sing something, the crowd starts singing/yelling "hey, hey, hey". Eddie is taken aback but delighted. He goes with it and starts singing various sounds to see if the audience will repeat, and they do! Then he decides to have a little fun with it and sings at a higher and higher key until the audience cannot follow along. The extended tag ends with Eddie dropping to his knees as if to pay homage to the audience. After "Not For You", Eddie says, "... of course it was not for Italy, this is for you... if you are in love". "Not For You"'s slow ending (played only by Eddie and Jeff) leads gracefully into "Thin Air". "MFC" is introduced by Eddie saying that the last time he was in Italy he fell in love: "She was beautiful and small... she had four wheels and was called 'mini'. This is a song about my love for her". "Present Tense" is played with only Mike and Eddie, Stone appearing before the second chorus, and Jeff and Matt after. Eddie takes maybe four audience polaroids immediately after returning for the first encore. He then holds up the pictures and says, "These are pictures of the best singers in the world. If you are still good, we will play a lot more. Get comfortable". Eddie introduces "Sleight Of Hand" by saying it is a new song that the audience might not know very well. Introducing "Wishlist", Eddie says that this is one of the best times he has had here. Awesome jamming moment during the ending distortion of "Rearviewmirror". Eddie says, "Since this is the fashion capitol of the world, let's try this on", leading to "Garden". Before "Smile", Eddie comments, "This is how we are gonna feel". Eddie throws a harmonica to a specific person in the crowd at the end of "Smile". The wrong person apparently gets it and Eddie attempts to interfere but then backs off looking satisfied. The fan who gave up the harmonica got a pick. He says that it's a long story but that he just saw something beautiful happen. A great version of "Rockin' In The Free World" ends the show.
June 23, 2000 - Hallenstadion - Zurich, Switzerland
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
setlist: Of The Girl, Corduroy, Breakerfall, Grievance, Hail Hail, Animal, Dissident, Nothing As It Seems, Alive, Thin Air, Light Years, Untitled, MFC, Habit, Wishlist, Off He Goes, Sleight Of Hand, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror, Porch
encore 1: Brain Of J., Given To Fly, Do The Evolution, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Nothingman, Leatherman, Leaving Here
encore 2: Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter
Last night in Milan was all about the crowd, so it would be inevitable that this crowd would be different. The scent of marijuana was in the air and thus a very subdued audience. Mike seemed to be back on tonight. Matt's drum tech, Greg, can be seen playing bongos during the set opener "Of The Girl", and even though this is a mellow opener, the crowd are noticeably quiet. Eddie makes several comments about this: "You guys are really quiet", he says, "it's really nice". The "man" trilogy appears again. "Off He Goes" is "dedicated to a friend of mine who is here tonight". Stone's guitar is out of tune at the start of "Nothing As It Seems" which prompts the song to stop before Eddie sings "All this funny tuning", says Stone, smiling, "when we play it next time it will be so much better". True to his word, Eddie introduces "Nothing As It Seems" after "Dissident" saying "A song you might have heard before, like four minutes ago". "Nothingman" is introduced by Eddie, but that appears later when they decide to play "Sleight Of Hand" instead. During "Soon Forget" Eddie tells the crowd that this is the ukulele's first visit to Switzerland so it's very excited, sitting over there, interrupting him saying "play me, play me" during the show. "Jeremy" featured on the setlist but was not played.
June 25, 2000 - Parkbühne Wuhlheide - Berlin, Germany
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
setlist: Sometimes, Corduroy, Breakerfall, Hail Hail, Animal, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, In Hiding, Evacuation, Even Flow, Light Years, Untitled, MFC, Improv, Habit, Daughter/(Stop Your Sobbing)/(Androgynous Mind), Lukin, I Got Id, Insignificance, Not For You, Immortality, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Sleight Of Hand, Thin Air, Wishlist, Better Man, Do The Evolution, Alive, Fuckin' Up
encore 2: Soon Forget, Indifference
First speaking to the crowd after "Given To Fly", Eddie points out that it looks like a summer day in Seattle (rather cold and it rained while people were waiting). According to Eddie, you start such a day with five or six cups of coffee, "and you don't drink this (pointing to a bottle of wine) until you drink four or five beers". Mike seems conservative all evening, not much running or jumping. After "Light Years", Mike talks to Eddie and then leaves the stage. Eddie says that the next song is a request, and because it's a request by a band member, they have to do it. They start with "Untitled" and Mike is back on stage when they go into "MFC". The "Habit" intro is dark and focused on the last line, "free at last". Rather than the "speaking as a child..." part, Eddie sings "I am a doughnut" referring to JFK's "ich bin ein Berliner" quote. The "Daughter" tag ("Stop Your Sobbing", by The Pretenders), leads into a shouting contest between Eddie and the audience about who will be louder... and the crowd is very loud. Eddie starts this out by asking if they, "Feel like singing? Loud to the sky. Feels good, I can tell you that". It opens with a repeated "stop, stop, stop" leading to a chant and the "hey, hey" part, finishing with the "hey, hey, it's OK". When Pearl Jam returns for the encore, Eddie says he doesn't know how to say "thank you" to the crowd in German. He gets a piece of paper and asks the crowd, "Fühlt Ihr Euch gut?" (Do you feel fine?). He says they will do a slow one before they continue, leading to "Sleight Of Hand", with Mike standing there in a very cool fashion, waiting to join in. For the second encore, Eddie returns solo for "Soon Forget", commenting on how he got his ukulele in Hawaii but he believes the ukulele originally comes from East Berlin. A rocking show in a beautiful venue.
June 26, 2000 - Alsterdorfer Sporthalle - Hamburg, Germany
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
soundcheck: Crazy Mary, Whipping, Timeless Melody, Wash (x2)
setlist: Breakerfall, Corduroy, MFC, Go, Faithfull, Even Flow, Rival, Given To Fly, Elderly Woman..., Light Years, Evacuation, Grievance, Present Tense, Daughter/(I Believe In Miracles), Porch, Black, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Crazy Mary, Soldier Of Love, Do The Evolution, Once, Smile, Better Man, Baba O'Riley
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter
Highlights from the first set include the audience singing the high notes at the end of "Black" and an outstanding "Rearviewmirror" with an excellent solo by Mike. In fact, Mike is very much alive, running around like crazy with his flying V, throwing poses and grinning. The encores are stunning, with them returning and Eddie saying, "I don't know what it is about this town, but it's always been very good to this band". He wishes that it could be Jeff's birthday again, referring to the show they gave on Jeff's birthday in Hamburg in 1992. The crowd starts singing "Happy Birthday" (misunderstanding and thinking it IS Jeff's birthday) with Eddie joining in. The band members hug Jeff and congratulate him. Eddie continues by saying that since it is such a special occasion, they will do a song they haven't done in a long time, leading to a lovely "Crazy Mary". Eddie says the next song is a song for dancers ("Soldier Of Love"), leading to "Do The Evolution", which Eddie also says it's a song for dancers. After an amazing "Baba O'Riley", the band leaves the stage while Eddie is taking photos of the crowd, takes a photo of himself and tosses the polaroid into the audience. The crowd doesn't stop shouting for more so Eddie tells the crew to get the rest of the guys back onto the stage. The lights are turned on and a full band version of "Yellow Ledbetter" is the last song of this wonderful and magic evening.
June 28, 2000 - Sjöhistoriska Muséet - Stockholm, Sweden
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
soundcheck: Soon Forget, Walking The Cow, Dead Man, Parting Ways, Trouble, I Am A Patriot, Last Kiss
pre-set (Eddie solo): Last Kiss, Trouble, Dead Man, Parting Ways, Throw Your Arms Around Me
setlist: Corduroy, Grievance, God's Dice, Animal, Given To Fly, Rival, Elderly Woman..., Even Flow, Not For You, Thin Air, MFC, Habit, Present Tense, Daughter/(The Wrong Child), Jeremy, Once, Go/(Run To The Hills)
encore: Do The Evolution, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror, Wishlist, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Garden, State Of Love And Trust, Rockin' In The Free World
Eddie does a solo set prior to Dismemberment Plan's set! For "Last Kiss", one of the crew members (Shawn) comes on stage and pretends to sing, but it is actually Eddie singing from the side of the stage! Shawn only had 5 minutes advance warning and didn't really know the song well. Eight parachutists pass by the venue, doing arial tricks while the entire band watches. Eddie interrupts "Jeremy" with a "happy landings" and comments "Jeremy" must be the "freeloaders" favorite song so they waited to come in then. "Go" includes a snippet from Iron Maiden's "Run To The Hills". Before the encore, Eddie says that Iron Maiden is still in the house and asks the crowd to yell "Goodbye Maiden", and the crowd complies. Eddie comments: "There's two Eddies in town", referring to the Iron Maiden mascot, also called "Eddie". A large Nokia air balloon passes by during "Rearviewmirror" prompting Eddie to change the lyrics to "I seem to look away, when advertisements are flown my way". He acts like he is shooting them down with his guitar, with Matt accompanying with two or three rapid drumrolls (like a machine gun), and tells the crowd that it was their parents checking up on them and directs a "they're fine... go to hell... or heaven" to those in the balloon, followed by mumbling something about "which ever one is closer". "Garden" is dedicated to the space around the venue. Eddie says it's the fourth time they've played at that venue; the crowd says it was three times (which is correct - if you include the Mirror Ball show from 1995). Before "Rockin' In The Free World", Eddie says: "The last time, that I think we were here, this guy called Neil Young cut the speakers on fire! ...so we're gonna give it our best shot! See you next time... if there is a next time!". On the encore setlist and not played: "Black" (after "State Of Love And Trust", probably skipped because Mike had guitar problems) and "Yellow Ledbetter".
June 29, 2000 - Oslo Spektrum - Oslo, Norway
opening act: The Dismemberment Plan
setlist: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Animal, Red Mosquito, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, In Hiding, Insignificance, Grievance, Wishlist, Evacuation, Alive, Spin The Black Circle, Daughter/(In the Mood)/(Hold On)/(Androgynous Mind), Better Man, Immortality, Last Exit, Porch
encore: Sleight Of Hand, Do The Evolution, Once, Elderly Woman..., Timeless Melody, Black, Fuckin' Up
Totally different show from Stockholm, indoors and a slower setlist. "Immortality" and "Black" are standouts. Mike is in a great mood, "threatening" to hit his tech with the guitar and flexing his muscles. Eddie is watching Mike during each solo appearing to be totally amazed by him. "Daughter" is followed with snippets from Robert Plant's "In The Mood" ("I'm in the mood for a melody; I'm in the mood for a melody; I'm in the mood).
June 30, 2000 - Roskilde Dyreskueplads - Roskilde, Denmark (Roskilde Festival)
attendance: 50 000
setlist: Corduroy, Breakerfall, Hail Hail, Animal, Given To Fly, Even Flow, MFC, Habit, Better Man, Light Years, Insignificance, Daugther/(Hold On)/(Androgynous Mind)
The show ends early when a crowd surge on wet ground causes the death of nine people.
July 2, 2000 - Werchter Festivalpark - Werchter, Belgium (Rock Werchter Festival) (Canceled)
This festival show was canceled.
July 3, 2000 - Ahoy´ Sportpaleis - Rotterdam, Netherlands (Canceled)
This concert was canceled.
August 3, 2000 - GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater - Virginia Beach, VA, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Long Road, Corduroy, Grievance, Gods' Dice, Animal, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Even Flow, MFC, Wishlist, Off He Goes, Daughter/(It's OK), Better Man, Thin Air, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror, Porch
encore 1: Do The Evolution, Light Years, Black, Elderly Woman..., Sleight Of Hand, Go
encore 2: Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter
Many lyrical changes tonight, including: "Long Road" - "I have wished for so long, how I wish for them today"; "Cordoroy" - "Absolutely everything's changed"; "Grievance" - I just wanna be, I swear to God I can be, I will be alive as long as I am free". After "Animal", Eddie asks for the back of the audience to be lit up, wants to see how everyone is, and tells them to be careful, it's wet back there (it had been raining all day). Eddie, near tears, said the band is happy to be back with the crew, who is like their family. Throughout much of the show a butterfly flutters about in the light around Eddie, Matt and Mike. The disco ball reappears for "Wishlist". Before "Off He Goes", Eddie says: "There's a guy named Anthony, and this was his favorite song". (We think this is a reference to Anthony James Hurley, Australian fan who died the week after Roskilde). Later Eddie says, "The last time we had to ask the crowd to do something it was... a little nervewracking... I was gonna ask you to do something and maybe you'll do it?". The crowd answers "YES!". Eddie continues: "Sing loud 'cause it's outside. And sing loud because you're sti... you're still alive... Just sing loud, all right?" and then they careen back into "It's OK" by Dead Moon (Eddie consults his notebook for help with lyrics). "Porch" is ended with a lovely Roger Daltrey-style mic swing. In "Do The Evolution", Eddie changes the lyrics to "I'm a thief, I'm a liar, I'm George Bush, my son is an asshole". The end of "Light Years" has a couple of lines added at the end along the lines of, "Every day it's that sun or that moon, that moon...". Eddie stumbles on the first verse of "Elderly Woman..." but the band keeps playing while he smiles and picks it back up nicely later. A New York Rangers jersey with Eddie's name on it is passed to him right before the second encore. He looks at it and says "Hey, that's me!". Also, someone gives Eddie a large gold-colored scrapbook with "Memories of a Girl" written on the cover. He holds it up for the crowd to see and thanks her. A response to people cheering for the appearance of the ukulele: "If that many of you voted for Ralph Nader, the world would be a better place". "Soon Forget" is dedicated to corporate assholes, "we know who we are". Eddie shoots a half dozen Polaroids before "Yellow Ledbetter".
August 4, 2000 - Blockbuster Pavilion - Charlotte, NC, USA
attendance: 20 000
opening act: Sonic Youth
soundcheck: Daughter, Grievance, Breakerfall, Oceans (x2), Hail Hail, Leatherman, Present Tense
setlist: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Hail Hail, Animal, Nothing As It Seems, Light Years, Given To Fly, Untitled, MFC, Habit, Even Flow, Wishlist, Better Man, Grievance, Present Tense, Black, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Go, Do The Evolution, Once, Improv, I Got Id, Last Kiss, Porch
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter
Eddie says, "Hello, it's nice to be here, really". He says, "If you had asked one of us up here including the crew if we felt luck... how we felt a month ago, the one thing we wouldn't have said was lucky. But today, having Sonic Youth play with us here, I think today we do feel lucky". "Given To Fly" is particularly intense, the whole band is into it, playing to each other, and it sets the tone for the rest of the show. Eddie sings "... 23 minutes or so" in "Untitled" (a nod to Michael Jordan?). "Untitled" includes two extra verses. Eddie messes up the first two lines to "Wishlist" and closes it by singing, "I wish I had a little house on a little street in North Carolina, North Carolina...". Eddie intros "Present Tense" as "... we don't play it that often... it would be good just to hear it". Looking at the crowd and pointing to himself, "I need to hear it". Eddie gets emotional during "Black" and can't sing, looks at the crowd, and they all start singing the "doo doo doo doo doo" part. When Eddie returns for the amazing first encore, the crowd is pogoing and Eddie starts pogoing. During "Go", Mike is playing behind his head, and Eddie starts dancing wildly. The improv is very lovely. For the intro to "I Got Id", Eddie speaks about Mirrorball: "There was a record where Neil Young asked everybody in the band to be his band. Figured he'd use us and steal our youth and we'd use him and steal his wisdom... although he's probably younger than we are wise...". "Porch" is punctuated with many Daltrey mic swings. After "Yellow Ledbetter", Eddie says goodbye by saying, "Y'all watch the moon on the way home". Amazing show!
August 6, 2000 - Greensboro Coliseum - Greensboro, NC, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
soundcheck: Breakerfall, In My Tree, Crazy Mary, Evacuation, Rival
setlist: Of The Girl, Corduroy, Insignificance, Brain Of J., Evacuation, Nothing As It Seems, Jeremy, Daughter/(Androgynous Mind), MFC, Whipping, Wishlist, Better Man, Leatherman, Grievance, Even Flow, In My Tree, Black, Spin The Black Circle, Rearviewmirror/(You Really Got Me)
encore 1: Light Years, Crazy Mary, Do The Evolution, State Of Love And Trust, Last Kiss, Breakerfall
encore 2: Soon Forget, Smile
After "Evacuation", Eddie says, "It's nice to be in North Carolina; it's been two days... feels like years". He jokes about how the last song was written by Matt, and that drummers usually don't like the singer, hence the reason for it being so hard to sing. "I wrote the lyric part, so... maybe I just don't like myself". In "Wishlist", Eddie changes the lyrics to "15 million hands upraised in North Carolina". After forgetting two consecutive "I wish I was..." lines, he says, "I'll get the next one!". Eddie says, "This is gonna be another number that we haven't tried for quite a while. I'm gonna take a sip of wine for courage and give this a try", and he takes a swig from his wine bottle and they launch into "In My Tree". "Rearviewmirror" is extended, powerful and awesome, with Mike including riffs from "You Really Got Me", by the English band The Kinks. Eddie tosses his guitar 10-15 feet in the air and carefully catches it. After "Light Years", Eddie requests that the houselights be turned on, and he points out a guy in the front who's been holding up a tape recorder for the whole show. Eddie then tells him that the next song is a romantic song, and he'll need both hands so he can put his arm around his girlfriend, so he can put the tape recorder up on the stage! Eddie takes the recorder, speaking into it (much like he did during several 1998 shows) and places it next to his microphone, before launching into a FULL, complete version of "Crazy Mary". Mike tries to end it with Led Zeppelin's "Stairway To Heaven" solo, but it's cut off. He later mocks the guy for thinking that the band would give the recorder back, providing much comic relief and the recorder is returned. Eddie breaks two strings during "Breakerfall" and ends the song by ripping the other four off, seemingly close to smashing it! Before "Soon Forget", Eddie is rambling about how he's not good at math, but he "... wants to 'thank you' and put absolute value around that". He also says that he hopes he can get through the song without fucking up. "Just don't clap or anything, OK?", but he still ends up messing up the song in exactly the same place he did in Bellingham, WA (on the "Light Years" b-side). A "full-on" show including Matt breaking a giant crash cymbal and Mike tossing out a big handful of Stone's picks with "Mike" written on the back with a black marker! A teenage boy in a wheelchair with an oxygen mask was brought to the back of the stage with his mother. Eddie went over to him a few times and touched him and hugged the mom, gave him some things and Matt gave him some drumsticks. Very moving!
August 7, 2000 - Philips Arena - Atlanta, GA, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Release, Corduroy, Insignificance, Animal, Hail Hail, Nothing As It Seems, Rival, Given To Fly, Light Years, Do The Evolution, Even Flow, In Hiding, Daughter/(The Wrong Child)/(Androgynous Mind), (Romanza)/Better Man, Nothingman, Leatherman, Grievance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Once, Breakerfall, Immortality, Crazy Mary, Elderly Woman..., Porch, Fuckin' Up
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter
Prior to "Nothing As It Seems", Eddie greets the crowd (with bottle of wine in hand): "Toast to Atlanta". He takes a sip and proclaims, "It's good tonight". After "Rival", he turns around to say hello to the fans seated behind the stage comparing them to the "b-side" of a record. "Do The Evolution" lyrics are changed to: "I'm Ted Turner and this is my choir". After a great version of "In Hiding" the lights are on the crowd enough for Eddie to comment on the set up of Phillips Arena saying: "It looks like these people are free (pointing to his right) and these people are in prison" (referring to the luxury boxes that are stacked on top of each other like prison cells). He says that Ted Turner must sit right in the middle of all the "prison cells" and calls it the "king's crotch", unzipping his pants! He also talks about a new planet discovered yesterday and that Ted has already made an offer. Continuing, "This seems like a nice building and we're happy to play here. And he (Turner) owns it but he doesn't own us". "Better Man" features Eddie's short classical guitar intro titled "Romanza" (or "Spanish Romance"). The author is anonymous; Canadian guitarist Liona Boyd probably has the best known recording (for those interested). The gender roles are reversed in the "Nothingman" lyrics. During "Grievance", a light is shined on the American flag at the top of the arena on the first "I pledge my grievance to the flag". After "Breakerfall", Eddie says they finished up their last record here in Atlanta with Brendan O'Brien and how he likes Atlanta, and that "we spent enough time here... we know streets and we know names and we know gay bars (laughing)...". Eddie has trouble with the start of "Immortality" and Stone comes over and helps out laughing, "vacate is the...". During the full and beautiful "Crazy Mary", Eddie jumps down to the barricades and "passes around" his bottle of wine with many people in the front row. An absolutely beautiful, fitting moment. The entire encore is amazing, capped off by "Fuckin' Up" when Eddie smashes the mic stand with his tambourine. Eddie takes more polaroids before "Yellow Ledbetter" and Matt leads the crowd in clapping during Mike's solo.
August 9, 2000 - Mars Music Amphitheatre - West Palm Beach, FL, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Oceans, Corduroy, Grievance, Animal, Brain Of J., Red Mosquito, Nothing As It Seems, Even Flow, Faithfull, Dissident, Thin Air, Lukin, Not For You, Present Tense, MFC, Improv, Habit, Breakerfall, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: State Of Love And Trust, Do The Evolution, Better Man, Elderly Woman..., Go
encore 2: Leaving Here, Rockin' In The Free World
After "Red Mosquito" Eddie addresses the crowd, saying it's a beautiful night, beautiful day... he'd forgotten he had to work that evening, "... but this doesn't feel like work!". He thanks someone for driving him around all day, looking for waves that apparently didn't exist. "The only thing that was breaking was my heart". Before "Even Flow", Eddie says "This is a song called 'Paralyzed Big Baby'". The crowd is singing along with "Not For You" and Eddie changes it to "small my table, seats just one...". A bright, long-lasting shooting star is sighted by many in the crowd during "MFC", resulting in loud cheering. The improv before "Habit" which relates to "Habit" the way "Untitled" relates to "MFC": "I'm paralyzed, I'm in your eye. I'm not afraid of dying, 'cause I've got time...". The "speaking as..." break in "Habit" is "sending a message to the surf gods". During "Rearviewmirror" Jeff and Eddie do an extended forward lean into each other. Eddie throws his guitar in the air and misses catching it on the way down, but it doesn't land hard. When they return for the encore, Eddie toasts the crowd, and says the band is fortunate to have this many people who want to listen to their music. During "Go", Mike plays the guitar behind his head and Eddie swings the mic, which is becoming as normal as him fucking up the words to "Even Flow" (which he does tonight). During "Rockin' In The Free World", someone throws a t-shirt onstage and Eddie puts it on. It reads: "No Bush 2000".
August 10, 2000 - Mars Music Amphitheatre - West Palm Beach, FL, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Of The Girl, Breakerfall, Corduroy, MFC, Once, Animal, God's Dice, Given To Fly, Evacuation, Pilate, Daughter/(W.M.A.)/(On A Rope)/(Androgynous Mind), Even Flow, Wishlist, Timeless Melody, Off He Goes, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Nothingman, Leatherman, Porch
encore 1: Last Exit, Do The Evolution, Black, Crazy Mary, I Got Id, Last Kiss, Baba O'Riley
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter/(Dance The Night Away)
Before "Pilate", Eddie has the lights put on someone in the 15th row, saying "... he was the only guy fully rocking out to Sonic Youth... I love you", and he makes a reference to him coming back to his hotel room later. He continues, "This next song was named after a 12-foot eagle ray that was spotted off the coast of West Palm... oh, it's the next song... sorry" (and that song turns out to be "Even Flow" and he further explains that the ray is a member of the shark family). The "On A Rope" snippet within the "Daughter" tag is a Rocket from the Crypt song. Eddie goes off on a little story about how no one knows much about "Timeless Melody" and how it was written by the La's "... out of England in the mid 80s... the words are great". Eddie holds the last note in "Better Man" for what seems like forever. During "Porch" Eddie appears to be lighting, or attempting to light, the cork on his wine bottle; he then takes the cork and blacks out under and above his eyes, and across his nose. To finish off the song, Eddie slams the mic stand on the stage. Introducing "I Got Id", Eddie says, "Here's one we like to do with Neil Young, but we like to call him 'Young Neil'". Introducing "Last Kiss" he says, "This is a little sing along... pretend we got a big campfire and pretend that no one's dead". Introducing "Baba O'Riley", Eddie indicates that the audience should be doing some singing on this one. Stone has a good night tonight, and Mike is a maniac, really going for it with a very extended ending to "Yellow Ledbetter", breaking into Van Halen's "Dance The Night Away". The audience is MUCH better than the previous night.
August 12, 2000 - Ice Palace - Tampa, FL, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Grievance, Last Exit, Animal, God's Dice, Tremor Christ, Nothing As It Seems, Jeremy, Evacuation, (Romanza)/Better Man, Lukin, Light Years, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2)/(Androgynous Mind), Even Flow, Sleight Of Hand, Elderly Woman..., State Of Love and Trust, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Do The Evolution, Hail Hail, Garden, Immortality, Soldier Of Love, Porch
encore 2: Soon Forget, Indifference
encore 3: Rockin' In The Free World
Towards the end of "Tremor Christ", Eddie sings, "Even the east coast can get big, big waves!". He pays a lot of attention to the seats behind the stage, taking Polaroids, and addressing them: "We really wanna say good evening to south Tampa in the back. Glad you could make it. Watch our backs". During "Daughter", prior to the tag, Eddie says that he is seeing signs requesting songs, and if we didn't do what he wanted us to do, he sure wasn't going to do what we wanted to do. "Do you want to sing?" "Yeah!" responds the crowd. "I'll pick something that you know..." and goes into "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2", and then into "Hey hey it's okay" (which is "Androgynous Mind" by Sonic Youth). During "State Of Love And Trust", Eddie does a forward lean into Mike's back left shoulder. Stone is especially animated tonight... just amazing toward the end of "Rearviewmirror", and Eddie ends the song with about three or four Townshend-style jumps. Introducing "Garden" he says, "OK, you fulfilled our request so we're gonna fulfill someone over here's". Before "Soon Forget" Eddie takes a Polaroid of himself and tosses it out into the crowd. The third encore is a total surprise as Eddie has said goodnight, the band is gone, people start leaving and the crew picks up gear. The band returns to play a scorching "Rockin' In The Free World" with the arena lights full on and the crowd going nuts, arms clapping overhead at Eddie's instructions. To end, Eddie does a somersault at center stage... wine bottle in hand... complete with a running start. An amazing show!
August 14, 2000 - New Orleans Arena - New Orleans, LA, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Long Road, Grievance, Last Exit, Given To Fly, Hail Hail, Rival, Wishlist, Insignificance, Corduroy, Elderly Woman..., Nothing As It Seems, Evacuation, In Hiding, Daughter, Even Flow, Off He Goes, Better Man, Animal, Once, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Go, Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Crazy Mary, Black, Porch
encore 2: Last Kiss, Sonic Reducer, Yellow Ledbetter
This show is more tight and solid than a full out, let loose show. The crowd seems somewhat non-responsive to the newer songs. "Rival" is unbelievable and Eddie speaks afterward, saying it is nice to be in New Orleans and strums a bit of the "Release" intro on his guitar. He thanks Sonic Youth and talks of how wishes sometimes come true, leading to "Wishlist". During the "For 50 million hands upraised..." the crowd slowly raises their hands and Eddie laughs and comments, "Right!". "Elderly Woman..." is introduced as a little song with a long title. Jeff has a new, big standup bass for "Daughter". No tag, but Eddie is holding notes for an incredibly long time. At the top of the encore, Eddie comes out talking about how they are sorry for taking so long, but they had a fight (about what songs to play). "The good news is that it was the first fight I've gotten into while I was here this time". After "Do The Evolution", he mentions the Democratic convention: "I think Bill Clinton was gonna speak tonight, and he was gonna say: 'My fellow Americans. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit...'" and urges people to study the issues and to vote. "Jeremy" is powerful and includes a great crowd sing along. "Porch" is slowish and has a bluesy feel. Eddie speaks of poet Charles Bukowski and quotes: "What matters most is how you walk through the fire..." and thanks the crowd for their support, leading to "Last Kiss". "Sonic Reducer" is a nice surprise.
August 15, 2000 - The Pyramid Arena, Memphis, TN, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
soundcheck: Long Road (instrumental), Last Exit (instrumental), Garden (instrumental), I Can't Help Falling in Love (several times), In My Tree
setlist: Of The Girl, Last Exit, Animal, Grievance, Corduroy, Tremor Christ, Nothing As It Seems, Wishlist, Can't Help Falling In Love, Given To Fly, In My Tree, Even Flow, I Got Id, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Black, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Breakerfall, Do The Evolution, Thin Air, Nothingman, Elderly Woman..., State Of Love And Trust, Go
encore 2: Footsteps, Baba O'Riley
Very enthusiastic, but not sold out crowd. Right before "Nothing As It Seems", Eddie says: "It's great to be here... It's great to be anywhere!". After "Wishlist", Eddie says, "I need a jacket for this next song... something nice", and puts on a striped jacket, and then sings Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love", starting slowly, and then the rest of the band joins in, working up to a somewhat fast, punky version. During "Do The Evolution", Eddie does this karate move aimed at Stone during his solo (probably imitating Elvis' karate fixation), and then he puts on Graceland souvenir gold Elvis sunglasses during the "hallelujah"'s. He changes the lyrics to, "I'm a thief, I'm a liar, I'm the king, and this is my choir". Right before "Thin Air", Eddie says something about how "the big E-man" (Elvis) would have liked this one. Eddie messes up the words to "State Of Love And Trust". During "Go" the sunglasses reappear, and he does the Elvis kneel down and shake move, ending the song with more of the pseudo karate moves. Right after "Footsteps", Eddie says he wanted to thank the crowd for the great reception they gave Sonic Youth. The next song is dedicated to "a friend of mine who I'm only going to meet for the first time tomorrow. He's from West Memphis" (Damien Echols from the West Memphis Three), leading to "Baba O'Riley". Stone doing some semi-Townshend moves, Eddie exhorting the great crowd to sing along... tearing the house down. The band is on FIRE!
August 17, 2000 - AmSouth Amphitheater - Antioch, TN, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Corduroy, God's Dice, Do The Evolution, Red Mosquito, Wishlist, Elderly Woman..., Untitled, MFC, Given To Fly, Daughter/(Wrong Child)/(Androgynous Mind), Even Flow, Present Tense, Animal, Once, Of The Girl, Better Man, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Last Exit, Go, Jeremy, Smile, Leatherman, Soldier Of Love, Porch
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter
After "Do The Evolution", Eddie says: "Hello to the rest of Tennessee. Three degrees hotter, we'd think it was hell. 'Least it ain't Arkansas". He fucks up the words to "God's Dice" and starts singing the words to "Red Mosquito" early, prompting Stone to shake his head in amusement. Before "Wishlist" people start chanting "Eddie, Eddie" to which he responds, "Hey, don't piss me off this early". During "Jeremy" Eddie keeps holding his throat as though it is hurting, and exhorts the audience to sing at the end. There is a fan in the front row on crutches. Before "Smile", Eddie has been watching him through the whole show and invites him onstage. Eddie and the fan talk for a while, while the rest of the band looks on, amused; he then introduces him as "Andy, from Cookeville", and they work through the song a little. Eddie says, I left my mind in Tucker, Arkansas. It's in prison there on death row" (a reference to his visit to the West Memphis 3). Eddie shares some wint with Andy and the crowd starts chanting "Andy, Andy". At first Eddie looks pissed, but then he realizes it's an "Andy" chant and not a "Eddie" chant and breaks into this big smile. Eventually the band start playing and Eddie and Andy trade verses on the song, Eddie playing harmonica while Andy sings. In the middle of "Porch" Eddie says, "It's 120 up here... it's 180 degrees in here... to all those offended, I'm sorry... I'm burning, burning, burning", referencing the unbearable heat. When they return for the second encore, Eddie starts reading signs in the crowd. He sees one that says "Mankind" and says, "Stone, Mankind? Throw your arms around me? Sorry, sweetie. Maybe next time". He spots one for "Hunger Strike" and says, "Sorry, Chris isn't here". He sees one for "Baba O'Riley" and responds, "Sorry. 'Baba O'Riley' we played last night". At the end, Eddie sings, "It's too damn hot to stay" in "Yellow Ledbetter".
August 18, 2000 - Deer Creek Music Center - Noblesville, IN, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Grievance, Spin The Black Circle, Dissident, Brain Of J., Animal, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Even Flow, Pilate, Lukin, Light Years, (Romanza)/Better Man/(Save It For Later), Leatherman, Not For You, Black, Insignificance, Go
encore 1: Throw Your Arms Around Me (Eddie solo), Do The Evolution, State Of Love And Trust, Crazy Mary, Elderly Woman..., Last Kiss, Rearviewmirror
encore 2: Indifference, Rockin' In The Free World
During "Corduroy", Stone breaks a string, starts ripping his strings and is doing the weird skipping backward step. At the end, Mike is holding his ears as though the crowd is too loud. After "Spin The Black Circle", Eddie addresses the crowd: "Thanks a lot... last night in Nashville it felt like hell, and so Indiana feels like heaven". After "Dissident", Eddie drinks some wine, and then motions to the guys like he's saying "mix it up" and they go into "Brain Of J.". Someone is holding a sign up front and Eddie shakes his head, laughs, and motions to put it down. Eddie once again forgets the "Even Flow" lyrics, and Jeff and Eddie alternate jumps. Everybody in the crowd really seems to like "Lukin" responding by breaking out into a mass pogo. Stone is very into the "Not For You" solos. To start the first encore, Eddie walks out by himself and says, "It's much too beautiful a night to leave yet". He makes some reference to "the back 40" and mentions how he was up there during Sonic Youth, and toasts them with his wine. "My brother's here tonight, and I hadn't seen him yet, since we got back from Europe. I'm gonna dedicate this song to him, because life is short. It's beautiful, but it's short sometimes", and goes into a beautiful version of "Throw Your Arms Around Me". Before "Crazy Mary" Eddie says, "This is a song we've been trying as of late. But before we start it... I don't know if you can see the moon..." (and there is a beautiful big moon which he motions everyone to look at it). "We play this one right here in Indiana because we know there's lots of them", leads to "Elderly Woman....". "All right, here's another car song, only this one doesn't wreck", prefaces "Rearviewmirror". During the second encore, Eddie comes out and takes two signs from people in the front row: one says "Believe You Me", the other says "Rockin' In The Free World". They play "Indifference" and then close with "Rockin' In The Free World", altering the lyrics to "there's a thousand points of light for the re-pub-li-cans".
August 20, 2000 - Riverbend Music Center - Cincinnati, OH, USA
attendance: 16 000
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Of The Girl, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Go, God's Dice, Even Flow, Faithfull, Nothing As It Seems, Grievance, Untitled, MFC, Habit, Wishlist, Better Man, Rival, Sleight Of Hand, Insignificance, Porch
encore 1: The Kids Are Alright (Eddie solo), Given To Fly, Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Once, Black, Soldier Of Love, Rearviewmirror
encore 2: Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter/(Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love)/(Stranglehold)
Early in the show, someone in the audience hands Eddie an infamous The Who bootleg titled 'Tales From The Who'. Eddie looks really pleased and deliberately goes and shows it to the rest of the band. During "Even Flow", Eddie pours wine into two fan's cups (and even onto a shirt tossed on stage). During Mike's solo in "Nothing As It Seems", Eddie comes over to him, picks up his cigarette from the floor, takes a few drags, then puts it back in Mike's mouth. "Untitled" is extended with a second verse. Eddie is flexing his biceps sarcastically during many of the songs... partically in "Rival", when he also performs a number of crotch-grabs (notably while singing "well hung"). During "Porch", Eddie ventures out into the crowd like he did in '98. For the first encore, Eddie comes out and talks (his first time addressing the crowd this night) about how when they came onstage earlier... he suddenly remembered the venue... the last time they were there was with Soundgarden. He also mentions how that the name "Cincinnati" came up before "for some difficult reasons, but I'm gonna play this nex one because of our new bond", leading to "The Kids Are Alright". At the end of the song Eddie does a Townshend jump and a bunch of windmills. During "Jeremy", he sticks one arm through the other arm of his shirt making a gun shape with his hand. During one of Mike's solos, he had a piece of paper that says "thank you!" that an audience member had handed him in his mouth. He holds it there for a minute, then sucks it in and starts eating it, then gets a disgusted look on his face and spits it out. At the beginning of the second encore, Eddie introduces the ukulele to the audience: "Ukulele, I'd like to introduce you to Cincinnati. Cincinnati, this is ukulele". Mike includes snippets from Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" and Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" in the final "Yellow Ledbetter" solo, while Stone, Jeff and Eddie are cracking up. Instead of the Polaroid (which Eddie says he left back in the hotel), he captures the audience with a small video camera.
August 21, 2000 - Polaris Amphitheater - Columbus, OH, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Breakerfall, Whipping, Spin The Black Circle, Hail Hail, Corduroy, In My Tree, Dissident, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Grievance, Light Years, Daughter/(Hold On)/(Androgynous Mind), Lukin, Wishlist, Off He Goes, (Romanza)/Better Man, State Of Love And Trust, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Present Tense, Last Exit, Once, Elderly Woman..., Leatherman, Nothingman, Porch
encore 2: Last Kiss, Yellow Ledbetter/(Children Of The Grave)/(Unchained)
Eddie talks about how there are a lot of schools in that part of Ohio and how they are happy to "be playing for a crowd full of intellectuals...". "Lukin" is jokingly billed as "another sing along". As with other shows the "quarter to ten" line in "Off He Goes" again is exactly at a quarter to ten. Before "Insignificance", Eddie takes off his button-down shirt to reveal a sleeveless Dead Moon t-shirt, showing off his arms. After the main set, thousands of lighters are lit in the crowd, and remained lit during the entire time before the band returns for the encore. When they walk out for the first encore, Eddie says, "Jesus Christ, there's a lot of you! This many people, you could start a revolution", and holds up a shirt someone threw up that says "McCready for President". He says it would be good to have a president who could play Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Van Halen. "It would put touring on hold and recording would take a back seat to the country's needs, but what the fuck". He then points to a Ralph Nader shirt and says it's a little more likely. "It would be great if everyone voted because if you don't vote, then you can't bitch about it after... politics and beer, it goes great together... speaking of the president elect... We're gonna start a song together here and it's dedicated to all those out there who might find themselves on the wrong end of a losing streak", leading to "Present Tense". Before "Elderly Woman..." Eddie speaks of how the next stop is New York City "... and we're not gonna play this song there". He mentions that New York is great because that's where Sonic Youth is from and how Sonic Youth played to the most beautiful sunset (that he videotaped) that evening. Eddie forgets the last verse of "Leatherman" and sings, "la la la la" instead. Eddie puts Mike on his back for the end of "Porch", carrying him to the other side of the stage and setting him down near Stone. Mike mixes some of Black Sabbath's "Children Of The Grave" and Van Halen's "Unchained" into the "Yellow Ledbetter" ending.
August 23, 2000 - Jones Beach Theater - Wantagh, NY, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
soundcheck: Breath (riffs), Timeless Melody, All Those Yesterdays (x2), Garden, Mankind, Breath, Whipping, Insignificance
pre-set (Eddie solo): Dead Man
setlist: Long Road, Corduroy, Grievance, God's Dice, Animal, Faithfull, Nothing As It Seems, Wishlist, MFC, Habit, Even Flow, Daughter/(Hold On), Better Man, Leatherman, Nothingman, Not For You, Rearviewmirror
encore: Soon Forget, Present Tense, Sleight Of Hand, Last Exit, Do The Evolution, State Of Love And Trust, Black, Fuckin' Up
Not a very talkative show and the show starts off a little slow as the crowd is a little quiet. At the end of a troubled "Wishlist" Eddie sings, "I wish I was a singer... that remembered all the words...". The "Hold On’"tag in "Daughter" is an audience participation thing orchistrated by Eddie; he tells the crowd to sing "hold on" after him. It continues for about five reptitions, and then he continues, making it more difficult for the crowd to keep up with his high notes until they eventually quit singing. At the start of the encore, Eddie talks about reasons he's excited to be in New York and that it's an exciting year to vote. He says that they wouldn't tell us who to vote for (Ralph Nader), or that he'd in any way influence our decision (Green Party), but that we should vote. He says he doesn't know if Ralph Nader has ever heard Pearl Jam's music, but he thinks he'd like the next song, which is "Soon Forget". During "State Of Love And Trust", Eddie brings the mic to the crowd and lets a fan sing a refrain. Mike's solo in "Black" amazes everyone, including Eddie. During "Fuckin' Up", Mike is playing the guitar behind his head. Celebrities fans are in attendance in Ten Club seats (Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and Pete Sampras).
August 24, 2000 - Jones Beach Theater - Wantagh, NY, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Of The Girl, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Grievance, Last Exit, Do The Evolution, Dissident, Rival, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Light Years, Even Flow, Daughter/(It's OK), Lukin, Insignificance, (Romanza)/Better Man, Porch
encore 1: Spin The Black Circle, Hail Hail, I Got Id, Elderly Woman..., Crazy Mary, Black, Rearviewmirror
encore 2: Last Kiss, Yellow Ledbetter/(Jumpin' Jack Flash)/(Substitute)
This show was carried by regional radio. During "Grievance", Eddie sings "champagne breakfast for all New York". "Do The Evolution" comes early and includes the lyrics, "I do what I want, irresponsibly. Why? I'm a republican baby!". The "Even Flow" lyrics are changed to "understands the weather of the summer's on it's way". "Daughter" is tagged with the Dead Moon's "It's OK" and Eddie gets the crowd to sing the chorus and he sings the last verse. After getting his layered clothing buttoned down, Eddie goes into the crowd during "Porch", which has a very bluesy feel. As the band returns for the first encore, Eddie sends "a call out to 92.7 and request for them to... go back to playing vinyl and only vinyl on the radio". (It's actually 92.3). He gives a similar speech as the previous night about not wanting to influence how people vote. "Rearviewmirror" was switched into the setlist instead of "Footsteps" and "Go". The "Last Kiss" lyrics are screwed up. Mike has an awesome show, throwing bits of The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and The Who's "Substitute" into "Yellow Ledbetter". He's wearing a Clash t-shirt. Not a lot of chatting tonight, this show has a bit of an inconsistent energy. The crowd was much better than the previous night.
August 25, 2000 - Jones Beach Theater - Wantagh, NY, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Sometimes, Grievance, Corduroy, Whipping, Do The Evolution, Animal, Evacuation, Red Mosquito, In Hiding, Even Flow, Mankind, Untitled, MFC, Rearviewmirror, Present Tense, Given To Fly, Thin Air, Off He Goes, Black, Jeremy, Immortality
encore 1: Go, Insignificance, In My Tree, Elderly Woman..., Better Man/(Save It For Later), Smile, Baba O'Riley
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter/(Over The Hills And Far Away)
During "Sometimes", Eddie makes some errors on guitar, prompting Mike to look over and put both his fingers in his ears. At the close of "Evacuation", Eddie greets the crowd: "How's that, fuckers?". He references the chemical spraying the previous night (an effort to combat the West Nile Virus carried by mosquitos), which leads to "Red Mosquito". "Untitled" is a much longer version with different verses. Eddie talks to Stone and then says that Stone wasn't afraid to arrive in a helicopter but he's afraid to play "Breath". Stone retorts: "Should I tell you the song that Eddie doesn't have the guts to play or not?". Eddie says they've come to a "mutual disagreement" which leads to "Elderly Woman...". Eddie talks about New York and how great it's been to the band, thanking for the support and mentioning the venues Wetlands Preserve, Roseland Ballroom, CBGB, Jones Beach Theater, Downing Stadium @ Randall's Island and Madison Square Garden. Mike tosses a little of Led Zeppelin's "Over The Hills And Far Away" into "Yellow Ledbetter". Everyone is in a great mood... at one point, Mike kisses Jeff!
August 27, 2000 - Saratoga Performing Arts Center - Saratoga Springs, NY, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Breakerfall, Whipping, Spin The Black Circle, Hail Hail, Corduroy, In My Tree, Dissident, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Grievance, Light Years, Daughter/(Beginning To See The Light)/(W.M.A.)/(Androgynous Mind), Lukin, MFC, Wishlist, Better Man, Even Flow, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Sleight Of Hand, Do The Evolution, Once, Timeless Melody, Elderly Woman..., Leatherman, Porch/(Voodoo Child)
encore 2: Soon Forget, Black, Yellow Ledbetter/(Nobody's Fault But Mine)
Excellent show, great sound quality in a beautiful venue. Eddie is wearing his "champagne breakfast club" shirt (which he points to at the appropriate point in "Grievance") and Mike is in the sleeveless "Queen" shirt. Eddie mentions how the last time they were in Saratoga was eight years ago, opening for Soundgarden, and that he was wearing the same shirt as that night. After "Light Years" (Eddie says, "So it's 'Lamp Years' tonight"), Eddie talks about the inventor of the lava lamp (Ed Walker) who died at age 82 and how he'd been an avid nudist his whole life. "... there's a nice cycle of life in a lava lamp. Something grows, it reaches, it breaks up. Falls back to the bottom, then grows again...". He turns to Matt (perhaps an analogy to his early drumming with members of Pearl Jam, the Soundgarden breakup and now returning). Then he trails off, laughing. Before "Wishlist", Eddie tells a story about having worked with some primates three summers ago and learning about language research with the animals. He explains how this next song, "even a monkey could play". He proceeds to mess up a line in the song and breaks off, laughing at himself, adding "You know, even the apes have trouble with the words sometimes". Stone's chuckling too, and Mike's shaking his head and grinning. Eddie has guitar troubles and switches from his black Rick to his black Tele. "Rearviewmirror" is outstanding with an extended Sonic Youth-inspired noisejam in the middle and a thundering finale. Mike throws some "Voodoo Child" riffs into "Porch". Eddie stands in the front row for part of "Porch", grabbing as he grabs a fan's hand. Pete (Pearl Jam's security guy) is holding Eddie and he rubs Pete's bald head. A 30-second "Daltrey" mic swing at the end of "Porch" is awesome, although he misses the catch, and the mic skips over the front of the crowd! Messy clapping on "Soon Forget" prompts Eddie to get the crowd clapping on the beat: "You're all clapping off time. It's nice to have the support, but you'd like the support to be, you know, on time". As "Yellow Ledbetter" is winding down, Eddie, Stone and Matt walk off stage, waving and thanking the crowd. Mike however, sticks around, holding the solo and ripping into a scorching piece of electric acrobatics, sampling Led Zeppelin's "Nobody's Fault But Mine" with Jeff laughing hysterically. He goes on for a good 90 seconds or so before finishing, throwing his pick out and joining the others offstage. A strong show, with excellent energy levels and a lot of joy in the air.
August 29, 2000 - Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts - Mansfield (Boston), MA, USA
attendance: 19 900
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Of The Girl, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Go, God's Dice, Even Flow, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Grievance, Untitled, MFC, Habit, Wishlist, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Rival, Sleight Of Hand, Insignificance, Porch
encore 1: Patriot (Eddie solo), Do The Evolution, Jeremy, Once, Mankind, Crazy Mary, Soldier Of Love, Rearviewmirror
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter/(Sick As A Dog), Fuckin' Up
An absolutely amazing show. Following "Even Flow", some people about 15 rows back hold up a large banner reading, "We're so sorry, Hope you're OK". Eddie spies it, comes to the front of the stage to get a better view and then puts his hand over his heart before returning to the mic, saying, "Thank you... an extraordinary welcome...". Eddie makes reference to being together ten years in October but to put thing in perspective, that next year Sonic Youth will have been together for 20 years (Kim Gordon suffered terrible equipment problems during their warmup set). Lyrics to "Untitled" are changed to "I can be there in 33 minutes or so...", likely a reference to Boston Celtic's Larry Bird (#33). Another reference during "Habit": "Speaking as a child who knew who John Havlicek was...". Stone completely messes up the intro to "Sleight Of Hand". Mike actually smashes his guitar up again tonight during "Porch" and hands it to some young kids at the front, and Eddie gives them some picks as well! Eddie says that this is the liveliest crowd since Europe, prefacing it with, "You'll be able to check all the bootlegs to be make sure I haven't said this to anyone else before". He says that people should use the power of the vote, if not to get Nader elected but to broaden the discussion wider to three guys. Through Eddie's whole election year speech, "Release" riffs are played. He says he is only talking about the election and Nader because "I know you're a highly intelligent and educated crowd. We won't even bring it up in Philadelphia (then slyly trails off with)... but we might". "Patriot" gets messy with the crowd clapping so much. Eddie stops and nods his head in rhythm with the clapping for a bit and then picks the song back up. Stone comments, "OK, so you know how I screwed up that one song earlier (referencing "Sleight Of Hand")? Well, this is your punishment for that. You didn't do it. This is Eddie's punishment", leading to "Mankind". A guy in a cow suit comes to the front of the stage, prompting a comment before "Crazy Mary": "We don't usually play this song except for when there's a dancing cow". He asks, "Do you come to all the shows dressed like that or just ours?" (Note: This guy goes to pretty much every show at this venue and gets pointed out at every show). Eddie passes a cigarette to someone front row during "Sleight Of Hand", gives away his tambourine after "Mankind", and someone passes Eddie a Rolling Stones Altamont show tape. Second encore begins, likely intended to finish with "Yellow Ledbetter" but there seems to be a last minute decision to play out with "Fuckin' Up" with Mike going crazy. Mike tags some of Aerosmith's "Sick As A Dog" into the "Yellow Ledbetter" solo and Eddie takes more Polaroids. Seemingly a show that was never going to end with the band in such a good mood. "Soon Forget" is on the setlist instead of "Yellow Ledbetter" but is not played.
August 30, 2000 - Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts - Mansfield (Boston), MA, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Release, Animal, Hail Hail, Corduroy, In My Tree, Given To Fly, Breakerfall, Grievance, Evacuation, Footsteps, Even Flow, Daughter/(Androgynous Mind), Not For You, Lukin, Improv, Brain Of J., Insignificance, Black
encore 1: Better Man, Go, Do The Evolution, Light Years, Elderly Woman..., Leatherman, Nothingman, State Of Love and Trust
encore 2: Soon Forget, Last Kiss, Rockin' In The Free World
Members of Aerosmith are on side stage during the first 7-8 songs, clapping and smiling. "Release" is a shortened version with incredible emotion. There is absolutely no chat with the crowd throughout the whole main set and they don't take a breather until the improv, after "Lukin". "Footsteps" is met with a HUGE crowd reaction. Stone's solo during "Not For You" is very passionate, causing Matt to look up and yell, "Go, Stone!". The set is seemingly cut short when Eddie gets visibly emotional during "Black". Eddie lets the crowd sing the second verse to "Better Man" and the band jams it out for a good extra minute or so. During "Leatherman" (which 90% of the crowd don't seem to recognize), Eddie yells the "give me some skin" line very profoundly and flubs some other lyrics, commenting "I'm so fucked up". "Nothingman" is absolutely beautiful, featuring glaring red lights from above during the "into the sun–burn!" line. Dancing during "State Of Love And Trust" and toward the end, Eddie motions to Mike to go out to the side of the stage and says "Hey, Mike" into the mic and they look at each other and wave. Someone gives Eddie flowers that he puts in the mic stand, ending the first encore. "Soon Forget" is introduced as "a small song on a small instrument by a small person" and the clapping leads to stopping the song: "Well, you were clapping out of time and I was out of tune, so we're even". Mike starts the opening to "Baba O'Riley" only to be cut short by the rest of the guys and they go into "Rockin' In The Free World" instead, with Mike playing with the guitar between his legs (causing Jeff to crack up), finished with Eddie distributing flowers to each side of the stage and waving goodbye to the crowd as the band plays on. An absolute piledriver of a show with a great crowd.
September 1, 2000 - Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Centre - Camden (Philadelphia), NJ, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
setlist: Sometimes, Last Exit, Animal, Red Mosquito, Grievance, Light Years, Dissident, Given To Fly, Even Flow, Wishlist, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Present Tense, Corduroy, Spin The Black Circle, Daughter/(Androgynous Mind)/(Hold On), Black, Insignificance, Go
encore 1: Breath, Tremor Christ, Once, Elderly Woman..., Jeremy, Whipping, Do The Evolution, Crazy Mary, Porch
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter/(Crazy Train)/(Number Of The Beast)
Pearl Jam plays through the first few songs and Eddie stops to tell the crowd, "There's only four shows left and the throat's starting to go. So help me out when you can". Eddie is sporting a t-shirt from Hickam AFB in Hawaii. The setlist obviously changed a few times as Eddie walks over to the rest of the band making changes. Numerous "Breath" signs were evident and Eddie, seeming displeased that people are holding up the signs during the first three songs, tells the crowd he'll be taking requests later. In "Given To Fly", intead of "Well fuckers, he still stands", Eddie sings "Well fuckers, you know the rest". "Even Flow" includes a Mike, Eddie and Jeff jump, totally in synch. The "Save It For Later" tag is extended and composed of completely different lyrics. "Corduroy" is introduced as "a song written about a brown jacket". During the "Daughter" tags, Eddie grabs a mirror and reflects the spotlights out into the crowd. "Breath" makes its 2000 tour debut, prompted by Eddie returning for the encore, smiling and cursing the crowd for wanting more and saying, "OK, fuckers", reaching to the crowd, grabbing a sign out of the front and holding it up to the band and the crowd, saying "It's not gonna be perfect, but let's give it a go". At the "all these reaching hands" part, Eddie reaches down to touch the outstretched hands of the first row. As "Breath" hits its peak, Eddie turns the mic stand upside down while raising it slowly, and then after balancing it for a moment, lets it swing and crash back down onto the stage. A few lyrics are neglected, but at the end, Jeff says, "Not too bad" towards Stone. Before "Elderly Woman...", Eddie speaks of a small town east of the west coast in California, but north of the border, and says that he and Matt "didn't know each other as delinquents, but we're making up for it now...". Eddie lets the crowd carry the "Jeremy" chorus, keeping the beat by humming the tune into the microphone with the crowd filling in the words. Mike plays the opening riffs from "Voodoo Child" by Jimi Hendrix, during "Porch". Before "Yellow Ledbetter", a fan up front gives Eddie a Flyers jersey with "Vedder" and the #10 on the back of it. Towards the end, Eddie says "There is a party in Stone's room tonight", and the crowd goes nuts. Someone tosses up an Iron Maiden shirt and Stone picks it up and puts it on Mike's amp during "Yellow Ledbetter" (which includes an extended snippet of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" and Iron Maiden's "Number Of The Beast"). The lawn is chanting "Mike, Mike, Mike!" seeming to drive him on. A great vibe and the band is very responsive; Stone is very animated, duck walking and skipping. Matt is driving things home and each time he adds a different fill, Stone glances toward Matt and then Jeff and they break into big smiles. "Rearviewmirror", "Evacuation" and "Hail, Hail" were on the setlist but not played.
September 2, 2000 - Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Centre - Camden (Philadelphia), NJ, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth
pre-set: Dead Man (Eddie solo), Parting Ways (Eddie solo)
setlist: Of The Girl, Breakerfall, State Of Love And Trust, Hail Hail, Do The Evolution, Faithfull, Nothing As It Seems, Corduroy, Untitled, MFC, Habit, I Got Id, Off He Goes, God's Dice, Even Flow, Rival, Animal, Nothingman, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Soon Forget, Better Man, Last Exit, Given To Fly, Footsteps, Last Kiss, Porch
encore 2: Baba O'Riley
After "Do The Evolution", Eddie says, "Is this Philadelphia or is this New Jersey? All I know is it's Saturday night... Make yourselves comfortable, we're going to be here a while". "Habit" is described as "about a friend who was having some problems. And if you have a friend who's having some problems, don't look away. Give 'em some help". After "I Got Id", Eddie says its a song that they wrote with "young Neil". He then talks about a few of the band members saw Neil's play during the break between Boston and Philadelphia and that Neil told him to say "Hello" to Philadelphia. He says that the Pope also asked them to say "Hello" to Philadelphia and that the Pope is "a warm human being... we're friends but never writes ya back". He changes the "Even Flow" lyrics to include, "Praying out to the Pope who never writes him back". When they return for the first encore, Eddie says that the front section is placing orders for songs and, "Yeah, we'll play that. Would you like fries with that? How about an apple pie?". He gives some "rock 'n' roll trivia" before "Soon Forget", noting Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath wrote all of their songs on a ukulele. "We're carrying on the rock 'n' roll tradition here". He messes up "Soon Forget" twice, both times shouting "Fuck me". After the second time, he says that it's "Two girls who keep flashing their tits... it's really hard to concentrate". Before startingo "Better Man", Eddie cruelly teases "Release" by playing the opening notes. Eddie brings out the harmonica for the beginning of "Footsteps" and Mike's solo is cut short. Someone tosses a Who t-shirt on stage when the band walks out for the second encore, Eddie puts it on and they go right into "Baba O'Riley", a perfect ending with the entire crowd singing. Eddie stops and lets the crowd carry it. Eddie is in a great mood, tossing lots of picks to the crowd tonight.
September 4, 2000 - Merriweather Post Pavilion - Columbia, MD, USA
opening act: Sonic Youth (Canceled)
pre-set: Trouble (Eddie solo), Dead Man (Eddie solo), Parting Ways (Eddie, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley & Jim O'Rourke)
setlist: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Grievance, Dissident, Do The Evolution, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Untitled, MFC, Habit, Daughter/(Androgynous Mind)/(It's OK), Lukin, Not For You, Even Flow, (Romanza)/Better Man, Black, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Leaving Here, Insignificance, State Of Love And Trust, Wishlist, Crazy Mary, Porch
encore 2: Soon Forget, Indifference, Rockin' In The Free World
Unusual start with Eddie's solo pre-set and the Sonic Youth guys joining him for "Parting Ways". When it is announced that Sonic Youth would not play and that Pearl Jam would start early, some people cheered. Eddie comments on Sonic Youth's emergency absence: "Sometimes it's kind of difficult to play music, believe it or not... and tonight's kind of like one of those nights, but because of your presence here, it doesn't allow us any option but to play... we'd probably listen to music to get through it anyway, so might as well listen to it together and play". "Insignificance" is described as a song about "being small" and Eddie motions above his head. "Wishlist" is dedicated to a friend who isn't there and the mirrorball is lowered. For the second encore, Eddie introduces the ukulele, holding it up and saying, "One of the original instruments of rock 'n' roll... and more importantly, heavy metal". He thanks people for registering to vote. He says that if people don't see the need for revolution then they aren't looking and mentions some corporations (dissing Bill Gates and Microsoft, saying "Soon Forget" was written for him). He makes an analogy about the start of the Republican party and how they got Lincoln elected (and the slaves were freed) and the Green party, and apologizes: "Enough from me". "Soon Forget" is performed perfectly, after Eddie asks the crowd to be quiet so they can hear the words. "Rockin' In The Free World" gets a huge crowd reaction and Eddie tosses out two tambourines, ending with crashing a third over the mic stand.
September 5, 2000 - Post-Gazette Pavilion - Burgettstown (Pittsburgh), PA, USA
attendance: 23 126
opening act: Sonic Youth (Canceled)
pre-set: Trouble (Eddie solo), Dead Man (Eddie solo), Parting Ways (Eddie, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley & Jim O'Rourke), Naked Eye (Eddie, Lee Ranaldo, Steve Shelley & Jim O'Rourke)
setlist: Even Flow, Hail Hail, Animal, Corduroy, Grievance, In My Tree, Nothing As It Seems, Light Years, Daughter/(Bull In The Heather)/(Androgynous Mind), Leatherman, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Sleight Of Hand, Given To Fly, Last Exit, Rearviewmirror, I Got Id, Black, Porch
encore 1: Breakerfall, Go, Once, Mankind, Elderly Woman..., Crazy Mary, Wash, I Got You, Insignificance
encore 2: Baba O'Riley
The "Daughter" tag, Sonic Youth's "Bull In The Heather", is a surprise. Eddie runs off the stage during "Daughter", returning with a sheet of lyrics that he uses to sing the tag. The band is very manic tonight. Eddie lets a fan in the front count off the "1,2,3,4" to open "Porch" and Mike smashes a guitar. He tosses it up into the air, and then after it crashes to the ground, he picks it up and then smashes it to smithereens against a speaker. Eddie throws himself full speed at the same speaker. Before the first encore, Eddie says that it's usually the second to last show of the tour that's the best, but not this time... the last show of the tour is the best one. During "Go" Eddie is running around centerstage backwards in a circle. Lots of glowstick throwing. Eddie throws one from the stage to the upper half of the pavilion. Both Mike and Eddie have their fun kicking beach balls into the crowd. Stone before "Mankind": "All right, I'm gonna sing one!". Just before "Crazy Mary", Eddie says that they are getting to the part of the show now where they were going to get a little crazy, or to borrow from another Seattle band, they are going to go "Crazy On You" (a nod to Heart). Eddie then mentions that there is a woman with a white umbrella, and he wants security to find her and to bring her down to the side of the stage. "She's OK; let her come on down". After "Crazy Mary" Eddie asks if they found the person with the umbrella (which they did... Pete went out to find her). So then the person is brought out from sidestage, and they have a private conversation, after which Eddie says, "Hey everybody, this is Amy... I asked her how many shows she's been to, 'cause we've seen her at like the last 12 or 15. She said over a hundred. Oh my God (hugging Amy). And then Eddie proceeds to take Stone's stool, and puts it down right next to his microphone, and sits her on that stool and they play "Wash". After the song, Eddie introduces her to all of the band members; Mike hugs her, Stone kisses her and she has a brief chat with all of them. "I Got You" includes two band huddles, where they all strum each of their guitars trying to figure out the right notes for the song. After the first one, Eddie says "I think we got it", only to have to meet again because they don't have it. Eddie comes back, spreads his arms and says, "What the fuck?". At the conclusion, Stone quips, "Nothing like a little improv". He also says it had been a tough tour, but the fans are making it tough for him to quit. Members of Sonic Youth help out with "Baba O'Riley", ending with Eddie doing multiple Townshend jumps and windmills. "Yellow Ledbetter" was on the setlist but not played.
October 4, 2000 - Centre Molson - Montreal, QC, Canada
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Of The Girl, Corduroy, Whipping, Grievance, Animal, God's Dice, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Wishlist, Pilate, Last Kiss, Do The Evolution, MFC, Improv, Habit, Light Years, Better Man, Even Flow, Porch
encore 1: Off He Goes, Breakerfall, State Of Love And Trust, I Got Id, Elderly Woman..., Leaving Here
encore 2: Fuckin' Up, Yellow Ledbetter/(Jailbreak)
Mike owns "Corduroy", completely reworking the solo. Eddie swaps the second and third verses of "Whipping". Eddie mentions how happy he is to be out of the states for a while. He discusses how boring the debates were last night and talks about George Bush and Al Gore's "lifeless eyes", arguing about topics nobody cares about. He mentions that if "little George Dubya Bush" wins, the band is applying for Canadian citizenship. Eddie dedicates "Nothing As It Seems" to Bush and Bore for their "lack of inspiration". Eddie messes up the lyrics in "Wishlist" and replaces the last line with "I wish I was the verb to trust, I hope I didn't just let you down". Stone is having a lot of technical problems early on (he later switches guitars THREE times during one song!) and he sits out almost all of "Grievance". Eddie says, "You know what's ironic? Stone was the most excited about playing tonight". "Last Kiss" is played while Andy (Stone's tech) tries to fix his gear; Eddie sings the song to the fans behind the stage. A rocking "Do The Evolution", with Stone getting major props for his solo. The improv prior to "Habit" runs approximately three minutes and features a repetitive bass note and some mind-bending fills from Matt. Problems are evident with Matt's kit as well, in particular the hi-hat. Mike has a lot of trouble getting through "Light Years". He is cracking up insanely, and even misses a few bars because he is doubled over with laughter. Mike has a very "on" night, with the "Even Flow" solo going on and on and on. "Porch" is amazing, with an extended jam, and Eddie exchanging notes with the crowd before the climax. Stone continues having a lot of technical problems, which prompts Eddie to joke, "Between Stone's hair and his pants, I could fuck him". Eddie falls over catching a New York Rangers jersey during "Fuckin' Up", but makes the catch, and tucks it into his pants. Mike throws in the opening riff of Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" into the "Yellow Ledbetter" outro.
October 5, 2000 - Air Canada Centre - Toronto, ON, Canada
attendance: 19 800
opening act: Supergrass
soundcheck: Red Mosquito, Leatherman, Mankind, Crazy Mary, Immortality, Hail Hail
setlist: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Grievance, Brain Of J., Animal, Dissident, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Insignificance, Daughter/(Androgynous Mind), Better Man, Mankind, Immortality, Even Flow, Black, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Sleight Of Hand, Crazy Mary, Once, Do The Evolution, Wishlist, Leatherman, Baba O'Riley
encore 2: Indifference
Early in the show, Eddie comments that the last time they were in Canada, they played for this many but that they were all sprawled out on a hill (referencing Barrie 1998). He notes that this venue is new and asks if they still "name these things after beer?". He answers, after conferring with Jeff, saying, "No, this one is named after an airplane. I guess that's good 'cause things are really starting to take off". A small lyric change in "Insignificance": "Turn the jukebox up I said". Stone has an extremely extended solo prior to the "Daughter" tag... a very on night for him. Eddie breaks a string during an intense "Better Man" jam and Stone steps up saying, "We don't play this very often", kicking into "Mankind". A powerful "Immortality" is proceeded by a short intro by Eddie and at the end, he animates his strumming to manipulate Matt's cadence. "Even Flow" has a renewed vibe to it, with Mike jamming his heart out for nearly two minutes. The entire band sits back, giving him the spotlight in the same vein as "Yellow Ledbetter" as he goes off, including some Hendrix riffing. At the beginning of the first encore, Eddie introduces Matt and mentions Wellwater Conspiracy, saying that everyone should check them out: "It's better than the crap we're playing tonight". Eddie remarks that "now that we're loosened up, this is the part of the show where we take requests, starting with this guy right here" pointing to someone in the front with a "Sleight Of Hand" sign. Prior to "Wishlist" Eddie talks about scientist Stephen Hawking and how he discovered that humans were only going to live a thousand more years on the planet. He says, "I'm trying to figure out what that means. Do we go fucking nuts for the next 1 000 years? (Strumming rapidly on his guitar for a few seconds with his head back, freaking out), or are we careful who we vote for?". In "Wishlist", Eddie changes the lyrics to "I wish I was as fortunate, as fortunate as Geddy Lee". Geddy Lee, from legendary Canadian band Rush, was sitting stage left for the entire show. The end of "Wishlist" is changed to "I wish that it would stop after a thousand years", referencing the prior anecdote. "Rearviewmirror" includes a wonderful bridge with Eddie frantically using his ebow. Eddie passes his wine bottle to fans in the front row during "Crazy Mary". Before "Baba O'Riley" Eddie mentions that they had been to see a band the other night that had been around for a long time and that there is a tribute disc being made for them and that while most tribute discs suck, this one has the chance of being really, really good. He says they are recording this song tonight, and in Chicago, to appear on the tribute record, telling the audience, "If you're better than Chicago, you'll end up on the record". At the raging finish of "Baba O'Riley", the whole place starts clapping very fast in unison, the band gets into it and starts speeding up the end. Eddie, with a huge smile on his face starts clapping along and Mike throws his arms up in a "V" and bows to the crowd twice, smiling. The lights had been turned on before "Baba O'Riley" (like it was expected to be the final song), but the crowd was so enthused that Pearl Jam produced a soothing "Indifference" to appease the crowd. The entire band is very animated, seemingly enjoying the venue and great audience.
October 7, 2000 - The Palace of Auburn Hills - Auburn Hills, MI, USA
opening act: Supergrass
soundcheck: Rival, In My Tree, Parting Ways (x2), In Hiding, Release (x2)
setlist: Go, Corduroy, Grievance, State Of Love And Trust, Tremor Christ, Elderly Woman..., Insignificance, Last Exit, Animal, In My Tree, I Got Id, (Romanza)/Better Man/(Save It For Later), Even Flow, Daughter/(W.M.A.), Thin Air, Jeremy, Given To Fly, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Nothing As It Seems, Last Kiss, Spin The Black Circle, Crazy Mary, Parting Ways
encore 2: Fuckin' Up
"Go" is a huge surprise for an opener and Mike wastes no time posing and interacting with fans in the front. Between "Tremor Christ" and "Elderly Woman...", Eddie makes a comment to the effect of "these are two songs about being small, in a small town, it doesn't really apply to Detroit, but maybe the outlying areas". Before "Daughter" someone in the crowd was holding up a sign. Eddie sees it and he reads it: "Say hi to Esther, she's here and sick!". Eddie responds, "So tomorrow we'll all be sick... thanks to Esther!". During the "Daughter" tag, Eddie gets out his trusty mirror and tries doing some reflecting without much success. "Jeremy" is intro'd as "the song that we played a few times, a dozen times, a few dozen times, a few hundred dozen times... if you could help me out with the middle part, that would be great". Mike busts a string during "Rearviewmirror" and throws the guitar down at the end, but picks it right back up. When the band returns for the first encore, Eddie starts talking about how Detroit has been great to them and mentions some places that they have played before, includingSaint Andrew's Hall, State Theatre and Masonic Temple Theatre. During "Nothing As It Seems", there was a complete lyrical screwup which caused the whole band to wonder where they were musically, and after the song Eddie raises his hand and says, "It was me, it was all my fault, I had the biggest fuckup of the tour". "Last Kiss" is dedicated to Ralph Nader. Before "Crazy Mary", there is someone standing on their seat in the fifth row waving at Eddie. He sees them, comes over, walks to the end of the stage, and motions at the person. Eddie starts taking off his red, white and blue wristband. He was giving it to the person who was on the chair, and he was motioning to give something back to them, and it turned out this person had their own red, white and blue wristband, and they switched. Tonight is the live debut of the full band playing "Parting Ways". It starts out with just Eddie with the rest of the band coming in after the first two verses. Eddie dedicates "Fuckin' Up" to "a friend of ours that has a lot to do with those flyers up there", gesturing at the ceiling of the arena. "This one goes out to #10", former Detroit Pistons player Dennis Rodman (who was in attendance).
October 8, 2000 - Alpine Valley Music Theatre - East Troy, WI, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Of The Girl, Hail Hail, Breakerfall, Whipping, Corduroy, Animal, Elderly Woman..., Dissident, Given To Fly, Faithfull, Even Flow, Untitled, MFC, Light Years, Off He Goes, Insignificance, Black, Jeremy, Porch/(It's OK)
encore: Wishlist, State Of Love And Trust, Go, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Daughter/(The Wrong Child), Smile, Rearviewmirror
"Welcome to the ice bowl", comments Eddie after "Hail, Hail". "Whipping" is an excellent, tight version. Eddie fucks up the beginning lyrics of "Corduroy", so he changes the lyrics in the middle of the song indicating it is "too fucking cold to sing". After "Animal" Eddie starts talking about when people listen to the bootleg later on, in order to understand how cold it is, if they work in a restaurant they should open the freezer, and if they live in Antarctica they should just open the screen doors. He mentions that if anyone who actually lives in Antarchita hears this, this song can be for them because it's about a small town, leading to "Elderly Woman...". Stone pogoes the entire "Even Flow" solo, seemingly to keep warm. The extended version of "Untitled" includes additional lyrics, including something about getting to somewhere warmer and then memories and forgiveness. During "Jeremy", Eddie falls backwards over the monitor at the end. The bridge in "Porch" includes several lines from "It's OK". When the band returns for the encore, Eddie is holding a "Let Ralph Debate" sign and tapes it to the front of his monitor. He also mentions that it is going to be a very memorable show, referring to the weather. Mike has guitar problems at the start of "Go" and Eddie changes one of the first lyrics to "where's Mike McCready?". At the end of "Daughter", Eddie starts chanting at a rapid pace: "Thunder road, thunder road, thunder road" (a nod to Bruce Springsteen). Eddie makes a joke about No Code sales before "Smile", saying that the guy who "wrote" the lyrics to the song (the lyrics to "Smile" are taken from a note that Dennis Flemion of The Frogs hid inside Eddie's notebook while he was onstage performing) receives 2/3 of a cent for each copy of the album sold... "so that comes to (laughing) well... No Code... like $20 (laughs), no $200?". He turns to Stone, "How much money?" and Stone says "$2000!". Matt is on the large screen (and seems to know it) while the stage is darkened for "Rearviewmirror". He exhales in unison with his kick drum, which draws a laugh from the crowd since everyone can see his breath. How cold was it? Mike is bundled up in a hat and scarf (scarf around his face all night); Stone has a hat on; Eddie doesn't remove the jacket the whole show; Matt is wearing a long sleeve shirt. Cold (28 degrees by show's end). "Oceans" was on the setlist as the opener but not played.
October 9, 2000 - Allstate Arena - Rosemont, IL, USA
attendance: 18 500
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Release, Corduroy, Grievance, God's Dice, Animal, Red Mosquito, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Wishlist, Elderly Woman..., In Hiding, Even Flow, Light Years, MFC, Lukin, Not For You, Better Man, Leatherman, Nothingman, Do The Evolution, Insignificance, Black, Parting Ways
encore 1: Sleight Of Hand, Soldier Of Love, Crazy Mary, Jeremy, Rearviewmirror
encore 2: Soon Forget, Baba O'Riley
A raucous crowd and a band in great spirits, Mike covering his ears during "Corduroy" signifying the loud crowd. Lots of between chat among the band. "Even Flow" is phenomenal, with Stone nudging Eddie to look over while Eddie is looking at Matt, with Matt and Mike playing off of each other toward the end, almost like a "who can top this" thing and Stone and Eddie applauding them both at the conclusion. Matt starts off "Light Years" and Eddie talks for the first 12-16 bars and it is restarted when he's finished. He tells how the song is about a person native to the Chicago area and how that person made the sun brighter for the people of Chicagoland. Lyrics are changed to "for they still miss you here" rather than "you seemed to like it here". Eddie talks about the Alpine show the night before: "Waking up this morning, it was hard to believe that last night actually happened". Later he says he thinks the temperature (26 degrees) matched the number of thousands of people that braved the temperature. "Lukin" (intro'ed as "another quiet one about a guy who likes to drink beer") and "Not For You" are practically one song. "Parting Ways" is a very pleasant surprise, closing the long, long set that Eddie earlier notes "it's not a set in a stone, concrete process, but we usually go about 17 songs or so before taking a break... it seems, by my count, that we're at about 22 right now... are you guys still with us?". He notes that after surviving last night, they just want to keep playing. Eddie passes his wine bottle around with the crowd during "Crazy Mary" and Mike throws a few bars of Jimmy Page's "Stairway To Heaven" solo into the song. "Rearviewmirror" is an unbelievable extended version. Eddie gives a long exhortation before "Soon Forget", urging fans to attend the Nader rally the next day (they were even selling tickets to the rally at the show) and he's sporting a Bush/Cheney sign with a huge black X through it on his monitor. He discusses the debates and how "one here and one here" are really coming from the same place but Nader provides an alternative. He says the next song is for the "richies... like the ones in the sky boxes" pointing to a sky box in the middle right, continuing, "I see there is alike a light blue neon light in the sky box... they must have a lot of cocaine in there (laughing)". Eddie stops the song because of the clapping (again), hushing everyone so "the rich would get the full effect" and imitates bad clapping by clapping his hand against his leg and stomping his foot off-beat saying, "See, the rich can't even keep time". And "Baba O'Riley" light full up, whole crowd visible and screaming, Stone goes nuts, Jeff does an Irish jig for Mike, Eddie breaks a tambourine and gives it to someone in the front, gets another one and tosses it to those behind the stage. Band is full on and the crowd is wild, up and loudly singing with every song.
October 11, 2000 - Riverport Amphitheatre - Maryland Heights (St. Louis), MO, USA
opening act: Supergrass
soundcheck: U, Sonic Reducer
setlist: Of The Girl, Go, Hail Hail, Brain Of J., Insignificance, Whipping, Light Years, State Of Love And Trust, Given To Fly, Animal, Elderly Woman..., Wishlist, In My Tree, Even Flow, Daughter, Better Man, Footsteps, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Breakerfall, U , Do The Evolution, Porch, Parting Ways
encore 2: Sonic Reducer, Last Kiss, Yellow Ledbetter
"We're in no hurry to leave", Eddie assures the crowd after "Of The Girl". "Hail, Hail" features the rapid clapping during the bridge that Eddie was so fond of in 1998. "The last song is about the whole world being different, the next song is about how hard it is to change things", intros a powerful version of "Insignificance". "Whipping" features Mike playing the guitar bending over, one arm through his leg, and Eddie finishing up with a lovely PT windmill. At the end of "State Of Love And Trust", Eddie notices the sign language interpreter (Kim) who was working at the side of the stage, signing the songs to the audience. He goes over, pulls her up from the security pit to the stage, and has a brief chat. "I'm curious what the next song sounds... I mean, looks like", and it's "Given To Fly". Eddie then adds to the interpretation with his own visual interpretations. At the end of the song, he moves over to the interpreter and dances with her as the song closes. Eddie lets the crowd sing the last chorus of "Animal". During "Daughter", Eddie is so into the vocalization he is doing during the tag zone (singing melodies at the crowd and letting them sing it back) that he loses his balance, falls over backward, and twists his ankle. This changes the dynamic of the show in that it's clearly hurting him and he's limited to how he can move around onstage (limping and hopping). Another killer version of "Rearviewmirror". First encore, Eddie tells us they're going to try something that hasn't been done before... "It's actually a Prince song", he jokes, as we are treated to the world premiere version of "U". After "Porch", Eddie proceeds to inform the audience that the St. Louis Cardinals won, mass pandemonium ensures. He then tells the crowd that he was lying, they actually lost, and weren't they glad they were here instead! Also some chat about the debates, and the obligatory Nader chat, and "Thanks for letting us mention that". "The next song is not called 'Maggot Brain'", intros "Sonic Reducer" and is in referenced to one of many in a sea of request signs.
October 12, 2000 - Sandstone Amphitheater - Bonner Springs, KS, USA
opening act: Supergrass
soundcheck: U
setlist: Release, Do The Evolution, Corduroy, Grievance, Lukin, Light Years, Given To Fly, In Hiding, Nothing As It Seems, Even Flow, Spin The Black Circle, Rival, Once, (Romanza)/Better Man/(Save It For Later), Insignificance, Nothingman, Animal, Jeremy, Black
encore 1: Sleight Of Hand, Untitled, MFC, Elderly Woman..., U, Rearviewmirror
encore 2: Rockin' In The Free World
Tonight Mr. Stone Gossard rules the stage, starting with a fiery solo during "Do The Evolution". The band is much more tight and focused tonight and Eddie demonstrates no visible ill effects of yesterday's ankle injury. The first five songs charge right into each other with no time for talk. After "Light Years", Eddie greets the crowd: "Hi! We've been here before, right? Yeah, I remember... the first band was the Murder City Devils, from Seattle; tonight we had an import from Oxford, England, called Supergrass, let's thank them!". "Nothing As It Seems" is killer, "Even Flow" has Stone right at the front of the stage, as he was all night, walking back and forth, playing to Jeff, making silly faces at Mike, having little side conversations with Eddie between songs, including one where he tells Eddie he wants to play "Mankind" next, and then after the next song, steps to his mic and clears his throat, looking quizzically in Eddie's direction; apparently it was on the setlist but not played tonight. "Once" starts by Mike leaping into a kick split and is punctuated by many more throughout the show. The "Save It For Later" tag in "Better Man" is really enthusiastic and lengthy. "Jeremy" is intro'd: "This next song is called, 'Love Amongst The Dead'". Eddie fucks up the words in the second verse and lets the crowd sing it back to him to get his place. Some apparently insensitive person decided that a sign campaign for "Alive" was appropriate for some stupid reason and the band returns for the first encore to a halfhearted sea of signs. Eddie tries to make the point by talking about many other things, and when the signs didn't go away, he finally says: "I see the signs; it's good to know that you can organize yourselves to support something, even a song; please put the signs down and vote for Ralph Nader". In other words, no "Alive". "Untitled" is extended. A tighter version (than the night before) of "U". Eddie joked: "This next one's a b-side and hard to find... unless you're online on Napster... that's how we got it!". A super-intense "Rearviewmirror" followed by an incredibly ferocious "Rockin' In The Free World" close out a brilliant performance.
October 14, 2000 - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion - The Woodlands (Houston), TX, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Long Road, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Whipping, Hail Hail, Animal, Dissident, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Untitled, MFC, Habit, Wishlist, Better Man, Evacuation, Mankind, Jeremy, Black, Porch
encore 1: Last Exit, State Of Love And Trust, Sleight Of Hand, Even Flow, Improv, Last Kiss, Rearviewmirror
encore 2: Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter
Eddie says that Houston "feels like Hawaii" (after playing in the cold up north) and someone throws a bunch of Hawaiian lei's onstage and Eddie picks them up and hands one to Mike, Jeff and Stone. Mike and Stone put them on around their faces and wear them like that for a while. He introduces "Given To Fly" saying he thinks it was written in Hawaii. "Wishlist" is dedicated to Eddie's nephew; he holds up a photo and tells the audience he's a Texan. Mike fucks up "Mankind" so badly they have to start over again; he holds up his hand, admitting the error. Eddie says, "Here's one guitar player sabotaging the other one, this is called infighting, and it's the biggest problem with our government". "Porch" has some kind of brief improv tag during the bridge: "Some people give, some people take; I like to give, I know what I make; Some peope love, some people give; I'd rather give, but... anyway". "Sleight Of Hand" is introduced as "this is a song about what happens over here, while you're looking over there". Eddie mentions that it was in 1991 or 1992 that they were last in Houston, and played with Soundgarden for a few dates and "we played Houston, Dallas, Austin, and... uh... Beaver Creek!". He introduces Matt and plugs Wellwater Conspiracy. Someone has a sign for "Rats" and Eddie acknowledges it saying: "Sorry". Someone else has a sign for "Out Of My Mind" and Eddie says that it's more annoying than the "Rats" sign and that they'd only played it once and made it up that night. Someone else has a sign that says "Loosegroove" that is apparently annoying people, because Ed tells Stone that if he'd acknowledge the sign, the person would probably put it down. "Even Flow" is introduced as "Buried Alive". A string breaks during "Soon Forget" and Eddie just stops and says, "It broke!". The crowd cheers and starts banging on the seats, Eddie shakes the ukulele, looks at it, pauses and then just picks up where he left off.
October 15, 2000 - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion - The Woodlands (Houston), TX, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Oceans, Corduroy, Grievance, God's Dice, Animal, Red Mosquito, Given To Fly, Faithfull, Elderly Woman..., Lukin, Not For You, Daughter/(The Wrong Child), Off He Goes, (Romanza)/Better Man/(Save It For Later), Insignificance, Nothingman, Even Flow, Go, Parting Ways
encore: Do The Evolution, Whipping, Once, Footsteps, Crazy Mary, Rockin' In The Free World
Eddie is wearing an "uncle Eddie" t-shirt. Before "Red Mosquito", Eddie shows his arm and says, "Can you see this? It's not track marks... it's mosquito bites...". "Better Man" is introduced as "this a sad song, but a true song" and Eddie was rocking so hard that he could barely transition into the "Save It For Later" tag, really only getting the "don't let me down" part. "Parting Ways" ends with Eddie doing huge windmills, and they jam out the end increasing the tempo. Eddie thanks the crowd for the past two nights, and they all agree and clap for the crowd. At the beginning of the encore, Eddie comes out and points down in the pit and talks about two people that were sitting down the whole show , acting like they were bored... "When we went to the room backstage we all said 'Did you see those two people down in the front just sitting there!?' I'm glad they're gone. Earlier I was smelling some pot up here, then I smelled something REALLY disgusting... I was thinking maybe it was the pollution... but I think it was THEM!". Beautiful venue, great crowds with just about everyone on their feet through the whole show and the band really on.
October 17, 2000 - Smirnoff Music Centre - Dallas, TX, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Sometimes, Breakerfall, Grievance, Corduroy, Animal, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Even Flow, Elderly Woman..., Rival, Jeremy, Daughter, Insignificance, I Got Id, Brain Of J., Black, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Wishlist, U, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Do The Evolution, Porch, Leaving Here
encore 2: Smile, Baba O'Riley
There's a big state fair behind the venue, visible over the lawn, and Eddie refers to it a few times, dedicating "Given To Fly" to it and most notably when the band return for the first encore, he says, "We're not leaving until the ferris wheel stops". Mike came alive with another blistering "Even Flow" solo and is then on fire. After "Rival", Eddie notes: "That one was written by Stone Gossard, and also goes by the title "Growing Up Gay In Littleton", which is where the Columbine High School is... this next song ("Jeremy") has a tie in to that, because it happened in Richland, Texas". (Actually, it happened in Richardson, Texas and Eddie is toying with the crowd). "I Got Id" is referred to as being written with "Neil Young, young, Neil. Neil Young". "Brain Of J." is introduced as "a song that was written on a grassy knoll". Eddie, in a chatty mood, points out a guy who has been to all the Texas stops, holding the same "Bush Sux" sign, leading to a ramble about Bush's daughter hating him (or something along those lines). "Rearviewmirror" features the incredible tight jam with the group backlit and cast in all shadows. Jeff finally brings them down from the jam, the lights go full and the group kicks the rest of the song's ass, closing the first set. "Better Man" has one line of "don't let me down" from "Save It For Later" played. Eddie introduces "Leaving Here" as "a song about empowerment of women". He calls out to the crowd to beat a wife beater, referencing hitting a home run in New York and going home and beating the wife afterwards (perhaps David Justice). Great solos by each of the guitarists, including Jeff. "Smile" is played by request and the harmonica given to the requester. Great audience and the band in good spirits and high energy with Eddie taking several photos at the conclusion of the rousing "Baba O'Riley" with the crowd singing along loudly with the "don't cry" section, bringing down the house and Eddie handing out two tambourines.
October 18, 2000 - United Spirit Arena - Lubbock, TX, USA
attendance: 15 000
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Breakerfall, MFC, God's Dice, Animal, Dissident, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, In Hiding, Lukin, Not For You, Daughter, Elderly Woman..., Do The Evolution, Even Flow, Parting Ways
encore 1: Hail Hail, Everyday, Insignificance, Black, Better Man/(Save It For Later), Crazy Mary, Porch
encore 2: Fuckin' Up, Yellow Ledbetter
Numerous small town type references from Eddie, the best of which is the nod to Lubbock native Buddy Holly with his cover of "Everyday". He also made several mentions of how much he likes being away from the "industrial pollution" of the big cities and how he's happy to be somewhere with tumbleweeds. Someone tosses a white Texas Tech cowboy hat up and Mike wears it for a while. Eddie wears a cowboy hat a bit also, and Stone also dons one during "Black", keeping it on until the end of the show (quite the fashion statement with the plaid pants). "Crazy Mary" is introduced as "There's got to be someone in Lubbock like this". "Porch" is the only song that really features a full-fledged jam session. A fan (Jamie) is brought up onstage during the "Yellow Ledbetter" solo, Eddie dances with her, sits her on his monitor, takes a polaroid, then they watch Mike close the show out together and Eddie gives her a photo and his bottle of wine.
October 20, 2000 - Mesa del Sol Amphitheater - Albuquerque, NM, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Of The Girl, Do The Evolution, Hail Hail, Grievance, Corduroy, Off He Goes, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Evacuation, Wishlist, Untitled, MFC, Habit, In My Tree, Daughter/(W.M.A.), Insignificance, Better Man, Black
encore 1: Go, State Of Love And Trust, Even Flow, Elderly Woman..., Whipping, Rearviewmirror
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter, Rockin' In The Free World
An unexpectedly powerful show with a kick ass audience. "It's nice to have a gathering like this in Albuquerque, New Mexico... thanks for being here", Eddie greets the crowd. "Wishlist" has a major lyric mishap, and Eddie ends the song with "I wish I wish I wish I wasn't the guy who forgot the words, I wish I wish I wish I wish... I guess it could be worse". "Even Flow", by contrast, was pretty damn perfect. "Untitled" is very extended, and the lyrics are modified to "18 minutes or so" tonight. "Habit" is also oddly extended and Eddie is "speaking as a child of the earth". Matt nails "In My Tree". Mike causes mass panic by ripping out the opening riffs to David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" while the techs deal with some issues prior to "Rearviewmirror". The highlight of the show was none other than Jesse, who is probably 9 years old, and is pulled out of the audience by Eddie during "Rockin' In The Free World" and gets to dance onstage, and then on Eddie's shoulders, and then Eddie runs him around to Matt's drum riser, Matt gives him a drum stick and they play drums together!
October 21, 2000 - Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion - Phoenix, AZ, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Long Road, Corduroy, Grievance, Animal, State Of Love And Trust, Dissident, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Wishlist, MFC, Timeless Melody, Even Flow, Insignificance, Thin Air, (Romanza)/Better Man, Lukin, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Once, Do The Evolution, I Got Id, Crazy Mary, Elderly Woman..., Baba O'Riley
encore 2: Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter/(Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love)/(Eruption)
A very chatty evening, and just when you thought Stone Gossard couldn't top the fashion parade, he takes the stage tonight in the famous plaid pants and a very natty cream-colored (with leopard accents) cowboy hat. Another very Stoney evening. "How is everyone... Hi. How's everyone in the back... it's what we really want to know... do you still like Seattle back there? Beautiful night for a concert. Be careful up there". Eddie greets us after "Dissident" (it was pouring rain up until Pearl Jam took the stage). "Wishlist" is dedicated to "Uncle John, who taught me everything I knew up until age 14, which is quite a bit, if you think about it... then my Uncle Fred, he taught me how to smoke pot, and I forgot everything Uncle John taught me... no, it was good stuff that got me through to that age, so thank you". Eddie takes the Rickenbacker and introduces "Timeless Melody" as a song taught to them by Matt Cameron in Barcelona. "This next one is called 'Gutter Punks and Whiskey'", introduces a cranking "Even Flow", with such a dynamic solo by Mike that Stone stands there laughing and shaking his head. Eddie gets the words to both "Wishlist" and "Even Flow" tonight, but the jury is still out as to what he sang for the first three lines of "Lukin". A small political speech begins the encore: "We've never thought it was our place to suggest who to vote for, but in this case - fuck it. You should vote for Ralph Nader". Eddie mentions that tomorrow's show is the 10th anniversary of the first Pearl Jam show, "not that it's a big deal or anything... so 10 years ago tonight we were in a basement drinking beer... Rainier beer, right?". "Yellow Ledbetter" is tagged with both "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" and "Eruption" by Van Halen.
October 22, 2000 - MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas, NV, USA
opening act: Supergrass
soundcheck: Crown Of Thorns (several times), Better Man, Save It For Later (instrumental), Can't Help Falling In Love (several times)
setlist: (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Breakerfall, Grievance, Last Exit, Animal, Dissident, Nothing As It Seems, Given To Fly, Wishlist, Untitled, MFC, Even Flow, Jeremy, Insignificance, Better Man, Lukin, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Do The Evolution, Once, (Chloe Dancer)/Crown Of Thorns, Black, Can't Help Falling In Love, Elderly Woman..., Mankind, Last Kiss, Porch
encore 2: Baba O'Riley, Yellow Ledbetter
Eddie is apparently ill, blowing his nose and tapping himself in the head at various points in the show, as if he has a headache. After "Animal", Eddie addresses the crowd, asking how many winners/losers there are in the audience (referencing gambling). He notes, "I should be included amongst the perpetual losers, but hey, I have a pretty good living for a loser". There are numerous references to this being the anniversary of their ten years together. Eddie says that he sent a tape to Stone and Jeff more than ten years ago and was glad they recognized the great talent (they all start laughing). He also references how he used to have the anonymity that he now so desires. The band is greeted by a sea of balloons in the front of the seated area (organized by fans) when they return to the stage for the first encore, in honor of the 10th anniversary of Pearl Jam's very first show, and Eddie breaks into a huge smile. Before "Crown Of Thorns" Eddie gives a lengthy speech, thanking the manager Kelly Curtis and some people from Epic Records (owned by Sony Music Entertainment). He points out that not many bands are around for more than 10 years and being relevant, and says, "I mean, this might be it for us", which is met with a deafening "boo!" and then says "No, I mean we'll still write music!". He concludes by thanking Stone and Jeff, providing a sweet segue into Mother Love Bone's "Crown Of Thorns". Brendan O'Brien accompanies Pearl Jam on keyboard for "Crown Of Thorns", "Black" and Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love". Celebrities sidestage included Tim Burton, Dave Grohl and Nicolas Cage, who got one of Eddie's tambourines during "Baba O'Riley".
October 24, 2000 - Greek Theatre - Los Angeles, CA, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Sometimes, Corduroy, Whipping, Grievance, Hail Hail, Animal, Light Years, Nothing As It Seems, Wishlist, Daughter/(Beautiful Way), Lukin, Not For You, Even Flow, (Romanza)/Better Man/(Save It For Later), Black, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror, Parting Ways
encore 1: Do The Evolution, State Of Love And Trust, U, Crazy Mary, Fuckin' Up
encore 2: Soon Forget, Yellow Ledbetter
A very up and down show. Eddie obviously battling a cold, but cracking jokes. The crowd at the front and sides are on fire at the smallest venue of the tour. After "Light Years" Eddie speaks for the first time and saying that the venue is like "... playing someone's back yard... the devil's back yard". Wild Matt fills during "Nothing As It Seems" and Mike playing guitar behind his head. After "Even Flow", Eddie mentions that before the show, there were two huge car company signs at the front of the stage which the venue didn't want to remove. "We definitely didn't want be a two hour commercial for Dodge... and they weren't going to take it down. Actually, we could be a commercial for Dodge", and proceeds to sing a little bit: "Can't find a better van... or we could do one for Ford", and then rips away at his guitar. Eddie also says he was glad to play the Greek when it was still the Greek, and wasn't the "Cisco Theater, or the Firestone Theater...". Eddie plays guitar on "Black" briefly. He tries to motivate the crowd during "Do The Evolution" during the "hallelujah" part ("C'mon guys!") and has trouble with the lyrics, flipping around a few lines. There is a 10-second sound outage during "Rearviewmirror" when the PA goes out. "U" is introduced as, "We're about to play a song that none of you know... actually these guys would know it", pointing at some fans in the crowd. Before "Soon Forget", he says that Neil Diamond has played in this venue a lot, but he's never played a ukulele. "Soon Forget" is perfect (no clapping tonight)!
October 25, 2000 - San Diego Sports Arena - San Diego, CA, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Long Road, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Whipping, God's Dice, Animal, Given To Fly, Even Flow, Wishlist, Rearviewmirror, Rival, Jeremy, Pilate, MFC, Daughter/(The Wrong Child), Soon Forget, Immortality, Insignificance, Go
encore 1: Don't Be Shy (Eddie solo), In My Tree, State Of Love And Trust, Once, Elderly Woman..., Black, Parting Ways
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter
After "Animal", Eddie comments that the name of the venue is the San Diego Sports Arena, but that he questions why it's called that, there aren't any sports here. He says that he and Matt used to watch bands there growing up, that they never saw a sporting event. After "Rival", Eddie says, "Stone wrote that song, and it should be nicknamed growing up gay in Littleton... that's Columbine... the next song is pre-Columbine and it's something I read about". "Soon Forget" is prefaced with the comment: "This is as close as we're going to get to Hawaii this tour, so we might as well break out the ukulele". At the end of "Immortality", Eddie comments that they were fortunate to play with Matt, and Matt's playing with them is a significant thought, and the next song is "Insignificance". "Don't Be Shy" is a Cat Stevens cover. Before playing it, Eddie says that it's nice to be in a place that he used to call home, and he said he'd been talking with a friend and that it had been a rough year, and that this song that he was about to sing was a tool that he had used to get out of feeling depressed or bad. "Elderly Woman..." is prefaced with, "Small Town was written for the old people who were pissed off and had angst, because Ten dealt with young people who had angst". Finally, Eddie calls the audience "fucking lucky bastards" to live in San Diego, and that he hopes the waves are good tomorrow, since they are taking Supergrass surfing. The polaroid makes its return at the second encore. Mike's amp goes out in the middle of "Yellow Ledbetter" for 10 seconds. Matt had some snare problems and they switched out his snare probably 3 or 4 times, 1 of which caused a small delay in the set. Mike was once again really hamming it up for the crowd. Stone had a really good show and did some great Stone chicken head bobbing. Matt was clearly playing for a hometown crowd... not showing off per se, but really rocking hard for his homies. Great "hometown" show!
October 27, 2000 - Selland Arena - Fresno, CA, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: (Interstellar Overdrive)/Corduroy, Breakerfall, Whipping, Last Exit, Hail Hail, Animal, Dissident, Nothing As It Seems, Untitled, MFC, Habit, I Got Id, Daughter/(Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2), Even Flow, State Of Love And Trust, Black, Parting Ways
encore 1: Soon Forget, Better Man, Insignificance, Do The Evolution, Footsteps, Rearviewmirror
encore 2: Indifference, Rockin' In The Free World
After "Dissident", Eddie addresses the crowd, how they've never played Fresno but they've passed through it going 65-70 mph. He also mentioned that he had gone to the doctor because he'd been sick, "so the singer's on drugs tonight" and asked if anyone else was... there were cheers and then he said, "ah Fresno, I wouldn't expect anything less of you". After "MFC", Eddie then apparently tells a joke about an Australian guy who got a tattoo on his ass of Yogi bear. He then intro'd "Habit" as "this is a song about looking into a dark hole and getting sucked into it". The "speaking as" line was, "speaking as Mike McCready with more tattoos than anyone else in the band". During "Even Flow", Eddie is smoking during the solo break, and then goes over and puts his cigarette into Mike's mouth as he finishes. After "Black" Eddie says, "That last song was about being in love and it's all over, this next song is about something scarier, being in love and you know it's going to end soon", and the band goes into "Parting Ways".
October 28, 2000 - Blockbuster Pavilion - San Bernardino, CA, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Rearviewmirror, Go, Animal, State Of Love And Trust, Given To Fly, Grievance, Corduroy, Wishlist, Nothing As It Seems, Evacuation, Even Flow, Light Years, Daughter, Jeremy, Leatherman, Better Man, Nothingman, Spin The Black Circle, Porch
encore 1: Breakerfall, Insignificance, Elderly Woman..., Crazy Mary, U, Do The Evolution
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter
Eddie greets the crowd after "State Of Love And Trust" with "Hello San Pedro... What? This isn't San Pedro, Jesus it's been a long tour". Eddie then puts on a pair of giant (3 feet tall) artificial hands during "Given To Fly" and makes hand gestures with them throughout the song. The "Daughter" tag is an improv about love: "Love is better than this song... let's hear it for love". During "Porch" Eddie looks like he is trying to figure out how to get up to the lighting rig... but instead, he CROWDSURFS. Jeff looks kind of irked at this behavior. Before the first encore Eddie apologized for leaving the crowd out in the cold but there was a small fight backstage. "Don't worry, no one is quitting the band yet", he said sarcastically. Before the first encore there were a few lawn fires started (typical for this venue), so when the band came back for the first encore, Eddie said, "I'm going to be a little serious here, no I'm going to be very serious". He mentions how a few people in the back are starting a fire and how Woodstock was some of the most fucked-up shit he's ever seen. During "Elderly Woman..." a guy jumps onstage. Once Eddie realizes that he is no threat he pushes security away and let him stay onstage throughout the song. The guy is a real ham, standing between Jeff and Eddie and pantomiming the lyrics. When the band came back for the second encore Eddie thanked their crew for having to deal with an outdoor venue at this time of the year. He then asks for a round of applause for Supergrass and mentioned: "When we first met Supergrass back in... (looks back to Jeff and Matt) Montreal?... Jesus Christ it really has been a long tour, when we first met them they said that they just couldn't wait to play San Bernadino". Before "Leatherman", Eddie stops and addresses the crowd with one of his many long speeches of the night. He introduces each band member and mentions what they worked at before becoming famous: Mike worked in a coffee shop, Jeff worked in a pizza place, Matt worked at Kinkos (which gets a big laugh). "And then, Stone Gossard. Never worked a day in his life!". More laughter. Stone says something to Eddie. "Oh, he says he worked at a lumberyard. I've never heard this". Stone says something else to Eddie. "Ohhh! His uncle owned the lumberyard... Can I get you some coffee, Uncle Steve?". Now it's Eddie's turn: "And myself... well, how about this: I waited tables. My first job was construction, but I had to save my hands. The restaurant I waited for had this thing called the holy trinity. It was a meal for the cheapskates that couldn't afford a real meal. At this particular restaurant there happened to be a LOT of cheapskates and people that didn't tip. I'm kidding if you're out there listening. Anyways, the holy trinity was soup, salad and bread. Here's Pearl Jam's holy trinity. See if you can put it together as we go". "Wash" was on the setlist but not played.
October 30, 2000 - Sacramento Valley Amphitheater - Wheatland (Sacramento), CA, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Whipping, Insignificance, Animal, Last Exit, State Of Love And Trust, Given To Fly, Elderly Woman..., Tremor Christ, Even Flow, Daughter, Better Man, Jeremy, Light Years, Immortality, Do The Evolution, Brain Of J., Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Breakerfall, Corduroy, Last Kiss, The Kids Are Alright, Go
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)
"Good evening. Cold enough for you?" Eddie inquires as the band takes the stage. (It's not quite Alpine Valley, but VERY cold). Everyone is wearing hats or wigs. Mike has a black afro on. Eddie has that big fuzzy hat he wears at the beginning of Single Video Theory when he's punching in at the time clock. Stone has a dark Beatle-ish wig on. (Practicing for tomorrow night, perhaps)! "Better Man" has one chorus of the instrumental "Save It For Later", not quite a tag. Two friends from down under get the Australian flag up to Eddie during "Do The Evoluton", and he wraps himself in it, later spreading it over the monitors in front of Matt's drumkit. When the guys return for the first encore, Eddie has on the orange stocking cap that Stone wore on Letterman. After "Corduroy", Eddie puts the hat on Stone, who is now wearing a wig AND a hat. "We're gonna do a song we've never done together as a full band", and Eddie dedicates "The Kids Are Alright" to his cousin. "This song is about desperation" introduces "Go". By the time the band reaches "Yellow Ledbetter", Stone has his hooded sweatshirt over his head (over the wig and the hat) and Eddie is over on the side during Mike's solo, tying on layers, putting on gloves. Mike weaves a bit of "Little Wing" into "Yellow Ledbetter". Short but brisk, fun show. Not much talking (it was cold)!
October 31, 2000 - Shoreline Amphitheatre - Mountain View (San Francisco), CA, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Release, Breakerfall, Corduroy, God's Dice, Animal, State Of Love And Trust, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Wishlist, In Hiding, MFC, (Romanza)/Better Man/(Save It For Later), Even Flow, Jeremy, Insignificance, Black, Porch
encore 1: Soon Forget, Whipping, Do The Evolution, Once, Sleight Of Hand, Soldier Of Love, Crazy Mary, The Kids Are Alright, Rearviewmirror
encore 2: Yellow Ledbetter, Baba O'Riley
A fairly standard set (punctuated with lots of energy and multiple simultaneous jumps from Eddie and Jeff) leads to a blistering encore. "I'm already cut off, and fucking dead", Eddie growls in "Corduroy". Two fans in the front are dressed as George W. Bush (in a Grim Reaper robe, with an axe) and Al Gore; Eddie first notices them during "God's Dice" and flips them the bird; they get a lot of understandable attention from Eddie throughout the night. "Wishlist" has a very extended ending with extra lyrics. After the "cracks along the walls" line in "In Hiding", Eddie sings "I was high as hell". A beautiful, perfect "Soon Forget" (helped by NO CLAPPING from the audience) is dedicated to "all the dotcomers here in Silicon Valley". After loud booing from the audience (not sure if this was pro or con), Eddie says, "Hey, we know, we got 'em in Seattle, too". During "Do The Evolution" the previously mentioned Bush and Gore costumed people are invited up on stage to dance around. Eddie dances with them a bit and pretends to chop their heads off with the axe. Hilarious moment! Finally, at the beginning of the second encore the band comes out dressed as the Village People! Jeff is the construction worker, Matt is the soldier, Eddie is the Indian, Stone as a policeman, and Mike as a biker. Incidently, Mike is wearing chaps, but no pants, just black underwear. Jeff goes over and pulls Mike's underwear down in the back twice, and then finally at the end of the solo, pulls the whole thing down, and Mike has to go over in the corner and hide behind a monitor to finish the solo. Fun show.
November 2, 2000 - Rose Garden Arena - Portland, OR, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Sometimes, Grievance, Corduroy, Go, Hail Hail, Dissident, Evacuation, Wishlist, Better Man, Given To Fly, State Of Love And Trust, Untitled, MFC, Habit, Thin Air, Even Flow, Black, Insignificance, Porch
encore 1: Soon Forget, Do The Evolution, Leatherman, Nothingman, Elderly Woman..., Improv, Rearviewmirror
encore 2: Fuckin' Up
"Go" has Mike spinning in circles. "Good evening, Portland", Eddie says after "Dissident", hefting the wine bottle. "I've got some good news, and some good news. The good news... we made it! No, switch that. The good news is, YOU made it. The really good news is that we've come to Oregon... tonight, knowing we play in a swing state... you're
all swingers whether you know it or not... your vote counts!". "Wishlist" has an extra verse that begins, "I wish I was the president/but I smoked too much pot...". "Better Man" has no "Save It For Later" tag, but instead has a repeated refrain instead. "Untitled" is extended/expanded with additional lines, probably due to some tech problems with Matt's equipment. In "Habit", Eddie falls back, comes to the front and says, "Speaking as a child from a town about five hours north of here...". The song finishes with this wicked jam in which Eddie breaks a string and Mike starts moving the guitar behind his head. "That song's about coffee in the morning, beer at night... caffeine. It's a gateway drug". "Thin Air" is introduced as "one of the better songs about new love... I can say that because it's written by Stone Gossard". The magic "Even Flow" 8-ball gives us: "This one's called "Have A Drink On Me". "Soon Forget" has a lengthy dedication to Paul Allen (who owns the Rose Garden): "Are you here, Paul? You'd think he'd be here... he can get in for free! He's kind of money conscious... but he's not evil, I mean... You know, Neil Young had a quote about Richard Nixon, 'even Richard Nixon has got soul'... I could never figure that line out". (From the song "Campaigner"). "Do The Evolution" lyric change: "They won't let me sing in the choir". "Elderly Woman..." ends and it sounds like Eddie is going into a little extended ending, but instead starts singing an entirely new song, all the guys were playing, they were all playing with concentration, it was tight!
November 3, 2000 - Idaho Center Arena - Nampa, ID, USA
opening act: Supergrass
setlist: Of The Girl, Go, Corduroy, Grievance, Last Exit, Tremor Christ, Elderly Woman..., Insignificance, Animal, Nothing As It Seems, I Got Id, (Romanza)/Better Man, Even Flow, Daughter, Light Years, Jeremy, Given To Fly, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Don't Be Shy (Eddie & Jeff), Black, Crazy Mary/(Stairway To Heaven), Do The Evolution, Spin The Black Circle, State Of Love And Trust, Parting Ways
encore 2: Rockin' In The Free World
Great show, great crowd and Eddie is obviously very pleased. Two-thirds of the people were in their seats for Supergrass! Mike is doing some serious flirting and mugging for the people in the front during "Last Exit". At one point, he gives a mischievous grin, takes a running leap on top of his monitor and falls back immediately. This is followed by another grin and he did a great butt-rock jump-kick, then falling back, laughing. Eddie addresses the crowd for the first time after "Tremor Christ". "Good evening, Boise, Idaho... it's funny because you go around meeting other bands and you know other bands, and you're part of this musical community and they say 'well, it's really great you guys have been playing for 10 years, congratulations' and all that and then they say, 'God, you must have played Boise' and you go 'Uh' (Eddie looks off, rubbing his chin) I don't think we did. I think we skipped them a couple of times, we cancelled" (boos from the crowd). Eddie continues, "That was when Mike McCready was doing the bookings, so blame him. So now they find out that you've never played here and they say 'you're not even a band!'. So thanks for hanging in there with us". Eddie introduces "Elderly Woman..." as being about Moscow, Idaho. He draws half a heart on his chest with his finger. "Better Man" is intro'ed as "a sad song to make you feel better". Eddie breaks a string and gets really into the song, jumping around until the string breaks off completely. The tag has "I know" repeated and something about being lonely or alone in the lyrics. The "Daughter" tag is a echo-song; Eddie sings "ooohhh" and the crowd responds immediately and loudly. After a few oohh's and awww's he sings, "You're beautiful" with the crowd responding several times and Eddie smiling. Then he sings "I feel beautiful" with the crowd singing back. Very moving! "Light Years" features the incredible Stone solo (and his groovy plaid pants). At one point, a guy named Ben makes it on stage and walks up to Eddie. Eddie asks him what his name is and how he got up there. He says he's from Utah and promptly gets escorted off by security. To start the encore, Jeff sits with his stand-up bass, Eddie sits down with his acoustic and says, "It's uh, you just don't know what it's like to be at the end of this, well you probably do know what it's like to take up a challenge and accomplish it. We're almost home and I just hope that, after this kind of intense year it would be great to end on a great show, so I really hope that Seattle is at least as good as this". He introduces "Don't Be Shy" as a song they found to help them get through hard-core depression. The wine bottle is passed to the crowd during "Crazy Mary" and features a lengthy "Stairway To Heaven" tag by Mike. "Parting Ways" is beautiful with Matt really shining. Eddie and Mike are leaning against each other, playfully pushing during "Rockin' In The Free World".
November 5, 2000 - KeyArena - Seattle, WA, USA
attendance: 17 000 (sold out)
opening acts: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Supergrass
soundcheck: Crown Of Thorns, State Of Love And Trust, Timeless Melody x3, Parting Ways
pre-set: Throw Your Arms Around Me (Eddie solo)
setlist: Long Road, Breakerfall, Corduroy, Whipping, God's Dice, Animal, Given To Fly, Nothing As It Seems, Daughter/(Bull In The Heather)/(Beautiful Way), MFC, Lukin, Wishlist, Better Man, Even Flow, Crown Of Thorns, Black, Do The Evolution, Insignificance, Rearviewmirror
encore 1: Timeless Melody, Light Years, Elderly Woman..., Last Exit, State Of Love And Trust, Spin The Black Circle, Last Kiss, Porch
encore 2: Parting Ways, Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)
The first homecoming show. In "Long Road" Eddie sings, "...and the skies are always grey...". Eddie also mentions that sometimes it's nice to play a show with your house key in your pocket. He later talks about how the typical Seattle weather seemed to follow them around the tour, mentioning Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego. "Crown Of Thorns" (once again, to everyone's surprise) is introduced as "a song that's older than me". Eddie and Jeff were playing this game all night, they have been doing all these jumps in tandem for the past couple of shows, but tonight they kept trying to psych each other out and pretend one was going to jump, but then they wouldn't, and start laughing. Someone had brought a huge "VOTE BUSH" banner and hung it from the 200 level; it was removed by two industrious fans before Pearl Jam took the stage. Between "Do The Evolution" and "Insignificance" Eddie acknowledges the previous existence of the banner and said that he couldn't believe it, and that "Just for tonight, I hope they took them out back and roughed them up a little". The members of Supergrass were brought out and thanked, and Gary and Eddie trade verses on "Timeless Melody". Afterward, Eddie says, "I have a bigger cock than Flea and Patrick Ewing combined, but I don't want to brag". Mike illustrates this by holding his hands out to give us a visual. (This was referencing a comment Flea made earlier about how he heard that [new Seattle Sonic] Patrick Ewing had the biggest cock in Seattle, except that now he was in town). April Cameron and Justine Foy are brought out (with hugs from Eddie) to perform the string arrangement for "Parting Ways". After "Parting Ways", Jeff grabs Eddie's wine bottle, takes a LONG swig, and then hands it over to Matt, who does likewise. "Yellow Ledbetter" is lavishly tagged with "Little Wing" (and there is a Jimi Hendrix photo, torn out of a magazine, taped to Mike's amp). Really strong, powerfully played show. On the setlist but not played: "In Hiding" and "The Kids Are Alright".
November 6, 2000 - KeyArena - Seattle, WA, USA
attendance: 17 000 (sold out)
opening acts: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wellwater Conspiracy
setlist: Release, Corduroy, Grievance, Rearviewmirror, Hail Hail, Evacuation, Dissident, Nothing As It Seems, In Hiding, Leatherman, Better Man, Nothingman, Even Flow, Jeremy, Lukin, Not For You, Daughter/(Androgynous Mind)
encore 1: Off He Goes, Light Years, Parting Ways, Go, Once, Crazy Mary, Immortality, Alive
encore 2: Soon Forget, The Kids Are Alright, Baba O'Riley
encore 3: Yellow Ledbetter/(Little Wing)
Eddie sings two songs with Matt Cameron and John McBain's band Wellwater Conspiracy, dressed very dapper in that block stripe suit jacket he's fond of. "Felicity's Surprise" is from the forthcoming Wellwater Conspiracy record, on which Eddie tells us he's singing, before he leaves the stage. Eddie then switches to a blue Eisenhower jacket for the main set. The audience is absolutely deafening, the place is packed to the rafters. Mike is doing running leaps onto his monitors during "Rearviewmirror". "Evacuation" is perfect, just nails the vocals. After "Dissident", Eddie addresses the crowd: "Hello", he says, waving. (Huge cheer.) "Well, Seattle, this is it. One last show. We'll never play again", he says, with a sarcastic smirk. "Well, at least for quite a while... at least you're better than the crowd last night". He addresses the huge security presence down front and asks them to lay off, "Stop poking people in the shoulders after every song, they're all right, just leave them alone". During Mike's "Nothing As It Seems" solo, the wine bottle is uncorked. "It's been about three months now" sings Eddie in "In Hiding". A "Jeff, Jeff" chant arises after "Leatherman". "What?" says Eddie. "I can't hear you". Jeff blushes madly and Eddie goes over and hugs him. He uses this cue to mention about how Las Vegas was the 10th anniversary "of the first time we played The Off Ramp... we professed our appreciation publicly for Jeff and Stone's long term relationship...". He then informs us "the next song was written when I was sitting on my bed when I was this tall", and goes into "Better Man". "Daughter" has an long, extended vocalization call-and-response with the crowd. "Off He Goes" is dedicated to Anthony Hurley (one of the Roskilde victims). The strings come out again for "Parting Ways". The emerald green strat is the latest McCready victim at the end of "Go". "Crazy Mary" has the solo from Led Zeppelins's "Stairway To Heaven" overlaid at the end. "Immortality" has the best Matt Cameron drum solo ever, which leads into "Alive": it seems to be more emotional for the audience than it does for the band with lots of smiles and they seem okay with it. Eddie returns for the second encore alone, picks up the ukulele and says, "I'm gonna play one original and then we're gonna go into Heavy Metal Hits of the 70's", and then proceeds to play some riffs from Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" on the ukulele! He then mentions how the song is written about some local folks, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, and goes into a surprisingly short rant on that subject. Following that song, Eddie gives a pretty long political speech urging people to vote, but also focusing on local politics, telling the audience that the city of Seattle imposed draconian conditions on the concert being at the Arena, including tripling the band's security costs. He ties this into the Teen Dance Ordinance and dedicates "The Kids Are Alright" to the people fighting it. This goes into "Baba O'Riley", and then Eddie thanks the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Matt Cameron, the other 3/4 of Soundgarden, Wellwater Conspiracy, and then says: "See you at the voting booth tomorrow... if you don't vote, let them put that on your fuckin' gravestone: "John Smith, he didn't vote". "Yellow Ledbtter" is a total band hugfest onstage, and features the "Little Wing" tag again.
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